diff --git a/lib/ansible/errors/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/errors/__init__.py
index f46c4f34c9..c88f2bb864 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/errors/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/errors/__init__.py
@@ -19,11 +19,18 @@
 from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
 __metaclass__ = type
 
-import os
-
 from ansible.errors.yaml_strings import *
 from ansible.utils.unicode import to_unicode, to_bytes
 
+
+if str is bytes:
+    # Python 2
+    to_str = to_bytes
+else:
+    # Python 3
+    to_str = to_unicode
+
+
 class AnsibleError(Exception):
     '''
     This is the base class for all errors raised from Ansible code,
@@ -49,7 +56,7 @@ class AnsibleError(Exception):
         if obj and isinstance(obj, AnsibleBaseYAMLObject):
             extended_error = self._get_extended_error()
             if extended_error:
-                self.message = 'ERROR! %s\n\n%s' % (message, to_bytes(extended_error))
+                self.message = 'ERROR! %s\n\n%s' % (message, to_str(extended_error))
         else:
             self.message = 'ERROR! %s' % message