diff --git a/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/generic.py b/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/generic.py
index f63c5bf6e7..e0b0a827a6 100644
--- a/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/generic.py
+++ b/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/generic.py
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@ class GenericViewsSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
         expected = ''
         for username in User.objects.values_list("username", flat=True):
             expected += "<url><loc>%s/users/%s/</loc></url>" % (self.base_url, username)
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 %s
 </urlset>
-""" % expected)
+""" % expected
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
diff --git a/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/http.py b/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/http.py
index 5cff67c238..8da971876f 100644
--- a/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/http.py
+++ b/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/http.py
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ class HTTPSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
     def test_simple_sitemap_index(self):
         "A simple sitemap index can be rendered"
         response = self.client.get('/simple/index.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <sitemap><loc>%s/simple/sitemap-simple.xml</loc></sitemap>
 </sitemapindex>
-""" % self.base_url)
+""" % self.base_url
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
     @override_settings(
         TEMPLATE_DIRS=(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'templates'),)
@@ -33,30 +34,34 @@ class HTTPSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
     def test_simple_sitemap_custom_index(self):
         "A simple sitemap index can be rendered with a custom template"
         response = self.client.get('/simple/custom-index.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!-- This is a customised template -->
 <sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <sitemap><loc>%s/simple/sitemap-simple.xml</loc></sitemap>
 </sitemapindex>
-""" % self.base_url)
+""" % self.base_url
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
+
 
     def test_simple_sitemap_section(self):
         "A simple sitemap section can be rendered"
         response = self.client.get('/simple/sitemap-simple.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <url><loc>%s/location/</loc><lastmod>%s</lastmod><changefreq>never</changefreq><priority>0.5</priority></url>
 </urlset>
-""" % (self.base_url, date.today()))
+""" % (self.base_url, date.today())
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_simple_sitemap(self):
         "A simple sitemap can be rendered"
         response = self.client.get('/simple/sitemap.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <url><loc>%s/location/</loc><lastmod>%s</lastmod><changefreq>never</changefreq><priority>0.5</priority></url>
 </urlset>
-""" % (self.base_url, date.today()))
+""" % (self.base_url, date.today())
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
     @override_settings(
         TEMPLATE_DIRS=(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'templates'),)
@@ -64,12 +69,13 @@ class HTTPSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
     def test_simple_custom_sitemap(self):
         "A simple sitemap can be rendered with a custom template"
         response = self.client.get('/simple/custom-sitemap.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!-- This is a customised template -->
 <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <url><loc>%s/location/</loc><lastmod>%s</lastmod><changefreq>never</changefreq><priority>0.5</priority></url>
 </urlset>
-""" % (self.base_url, date.today()))
+""" % (self.base_url, date.today())
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
     @skipUnless(settings.USE_I18N, "Internationalization is not enabled")
     @override_settings(USE_L10N=True)
@@ -90,11 +96,12 @@ class HTTPSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
         # installed doesn't raise an exception
         Site._meta.installed = False
         response = self.client.get('/simple/sitemap.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <url><loc>http://testserver/location/</loc><lastmod>%s</lastmod><changefreq>never</changefreq><priority>0.5</priority></url>
 </urlset>
-""" % date.today())
+""" % date.today()
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
     @skipUnless("django.contrib.sites" in settings.INSTALLED_APPS,
                 "django.contrib.sites app not installed.")
@@ -131,8 +138,9 @@ class HTTPSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
         Check that a cached sitemap index can be rendered (#2713).
         """
         response = self.client.get('/cached/index.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <sitemap><loc>%s/cached/sitemap-simple.xml</loc></sitemap>
 </sitemapindex>
-""" % self.base_url)
+""" % self.base_url
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
diff --git a/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/https.py b/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/https.py
index 34d992fc78..26241eb30b 100644
--- a/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/https.py
+++ b/django/contrib/sitemaps/tests/https.py
@@ -13,20 +13,22 @@ class HTTPSSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
     def test_secure_sitemap_index(self):
         "A secure sitemap index can be rendered"
         response = self.client.get('/secure/index.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <sitemap><loc>%s/secure/sitemap-simple.xml</loc></sitemap>
 </sitemapindex>
-""" % self.base_url)
+""" % self.base_url
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_secure_sitemap_section(self):
         "A secure sitemap section can be rendered"
         response = self.client.get('/secure/sitemap-simple.xml')
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <url><loc>%s/location/</loc><lastmod>%s</lastmod><changefreq>never</changefreq><priority>0.5</priority></url>
 </urlset>
-""" % (self.base_url, date.today()))
+""" % (self.base_url, date.today())
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
 
 @override_settings(SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER=False)
@@ -36,17 +38,19 @@ class HTTPSDetectionSitemapTests(SitemapTestsBase):
     def test_sitemap_index_with_https_request(self):
         "A sitemap index requested in HTTPS is rendered with HTTPS links"
         response = self.client.get('/simple/index.xml', **self.extra)
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <sitemap><loc>%s/simple/sitemap-simple.xml</loc></sitemap>
 </sitemapindex>
-""" % self.base_url.replace('http://', 'https://'))
+""" % self.base_url.replace('http://', 'https://')
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))
 
     def test_sitemap_section_with_https_request(self):
         "A sitemap section requested in HTTPS is rendered with HTTPS links"
         response = self.client.get('/simple/sitemap-simple.xml', **self.extra)
-        self.assertEqual(response.content, b"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+        expected_content = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <url><loc>%s/location/</loc><lastmod>%s</lastmod><changefreq>never</changefreq><priority>0.5</priority></url>
 </urlset>
-""" % (self.base_url.replace('http://', 'https://'), date.today()))
+""" % (self.base_url.replace('http://', 'https://'), date.today())
+        self.assertEqual(response.content, expected_content.encode('utf-8'))