diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/helpers.py b/django/contrib/admin/helpers.py
index 5cb8f1f07b..9312eab94f 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/helpers.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/helpers.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ checkbox = forms.CheckboxInput({'class': 'action-select'}, lambda value: False)
 
 class AdminForm(object):
     def __init__(self, form, fieldsets, prepopulated_fields):
-        self.form, self.fieldsets = form, fieldsets
+        self.form, self.fieldsets = form, normalize_fieldsets(fieldsets)
         self.prepopulated_fields = [{
             'field': form[field_name],
             'dependencies': [form[f] for f in dependencies]
@@ -196,3 +196,25 @@ class AdminErrorList(forms.util.ErrorList):
                 self.extend(inline_formset.non_form_errors())
                 for errors_in_inline_form in inline_formset.errors:
                     self.extend(errors_in_inline_form.values())
+
+def normalize_fieldsets(fieldsets):
+    """
+    Make sure the keys in fieldset dictionaries are strings. Returns the
+    normalized data.
+    """
+    result = []
+    for name, options in fieldsets:
+        result.append((name, normalize_dictionary(options)))
+    return result
+
+def normalize_dictionary(data_dict):
+    """
+    Converts all the keys in "data_dict" to strings. The keys must be
+    convertible using str().
+    """
+    for key, value in data_dict.items():
+        if not isinstance(key, str):
+            del data_dict[key]
+            data_dict[str(key)] = value
+    return data_dict
+
diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py b/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
index 9580e912a4..49b18ebdfd 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class ChangeList(object):
 
         if self.search_fields and self.query:
             for bit in self.query.split():
-                or_queries = [models.Q(**{construct_search(field_name): bit}) for field_name in self.search_fields]
+                or_queries = [models.Q(**{construct_search(str(field_name)): bit}) for field_name in self.search_fields]
                 other_qs = QuerySet(self.model)
                 other_qs.dup_select_related(qs)
                 other_qs = other_qs.filter(reduce(operator.or_, or_queries))
diff --git a/django/forms/models.py b/django/forms/models.py
index 8d55e4459e..010d3bf61c 100644
--- a/django/forms/models.py
+++ b/django/forms/models.py
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ class BaseModelForm(BaseForm):
                 # using it in a lookup.
                 if isinstance(self.fields[field_name], ModelChoiceField):
                     lookup_value =  lookup_value.pk
-                lookup_kwargs[field_name] = lookup_value
+                lookup_kwargs[str(field_name)] = lookup_value
 
             qs = self.instance.__class__._default_manager.filter(**lookup_kwargs)
 
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/models.py b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/models.py
index 75b4ad2c87..f1c24c2e99 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/models.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/models.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
     list_display = ('name', 'gender', 'alive')
     list_editable = ('gender', 'alive')
     list_filter = ('gender',)
-    search_fields = ('name',)
+    search_fields = (u'name',)
     ordering = ["id"]
 
 class Persona(models.Model):
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/model_forms_regress/models.py b/tests/regressiontests/model_forms_regress/models.py
index 88e23f9013..a8bd0a3fff 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/model_forms_regress/models.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/model_forms_regress/models.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class Triple(models.Model):
         return u"%d, %d, %d" % (self.left, self.middle, self.right)
 
     class Meta:
-        unique_together = (('left', 'middle'), ('middle', 'right'))
+        unique_together = (('left', 'middle'), (u'middle', u'right'))
 
 class FilePathModel(models.Model):
     path = models.FilePathField(path=os.path.dirname(__file__), match=".*\.py$", blank=True)