diff --git a/django/utils/_os.py b/django/utils/_os.py
index 82dccd0efe..9eb5e5e8ea 100644
--- a/django/utils/_os.py
+++ b/django/utils/_os.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import os
 import stat
 from os.path import join, normcase, normpath, abspath, isabs, sep
 from django.utils.encoding import force_text
+from django.utils import six
 
 try:
     WindowsError = WindowsError
@@ -10,13 +11,12 @@ except NameError:
         pass
 
 
-# Define our own abspath function that can handle joining
-# unicode paths to a current working directory that has non-ASCII
-# characters in it.  This isn't necessary on Windows since the
-# Windows version of abspath handles this correctly.  The Windows
-# abspath also handles drive letters differently than the pure
-# Python implementation, so it's best not to replace it.
-if os.name == 'nt':
+# Under Python 2, define our own abspath function that can handle joining
+# unicode paths to a current working directory that has non-ASCII characters
+# in it.  This isn't necessary on Windows since the Windows version of abspath
+# handles this correctly. It also handles drive letters differently than the
+# pure Python implementation, so it's best not to replace it.
+if six.PY3 or os.name == 'nt':
     abspathu = abspath
 else:
     def abspathu(path):