diff --git a/src/App/PropertyStandard.cpp b/src/App/PropertyStandard.cpp
index 7ff3b24f0b..086b4d9509 100644
--- a/src/App/PropertyStandard.cpp
+++ b/src/App/PropertyStandard.cpp
@@ -1752,6 +1752,16 @@ void PropertyStringList::setPyObject(PyObject *value)
     if (PyString_Check(value)) {
         setValue(PyString_AsString(value));
     }
+#endif
+    else if (PyUnicode_Check(value)) {
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
+        setValue(PyUnicode_AsUTF8(value));
+    }
+#else
+        PyObject* unicode = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(value);
+        setValue(PyString_AsString(unicode));
+        Py_DECREF(unicode);
+    }
 #endif
     else if (PySequence_Check(value)) {
         Py_ssize_t nSize = PySequence_Size(value);
@@ -1781,16 +1791,6 @@ void PropertyStringList::setPyObject(PyObject *value)
         
         setValues(values);
     }
-    else if (PyUnicode_Check(value)) {
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
-        setValue(PyUnicode_AsUTF8(value));
-    }
-#else
-        PyObject* unicode = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(value);
-        setValue(PyString_AsString(unicode));
-        Py_DECREF(unicode);
-    }
-#endif
     else {
         std::string error = std::string("type must be str or unicode or list of str or list of unicodes, not ");
         error += value->ob_type->tp_name;
diff --git a/src/Mod/Arch/ArchCommands.py b/src/Mod/Arch/ArchCommands.py
index 01a3e816d2..47d874d021 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Arch/ArchCommands.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Arch/ArchCommands.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #*                                                                         *
 #***************************************************************************
 
+import sys
 import FreeCAD,Draft,ArchComponent,DraftVecUtils
 from FreeCAD import Vector
 if FreeCAD.GuiUp:
@@ -48,6 +49,24 @@ __url__ = "http://www.freecadweb.org"
 
 # module functions ###############################################
 
+
+def string_replace(text, pattern, replacement):
+    """
+    if py2 isn't supported anymore calls to this function
+    should be replaced with:
+    `text.replace(pattern, replacement)`
+    for python2 the encoding must be done, as unicode replacement leads to something like this:
+    ```
+    >>> a = u'abc mm ^3'
+    >>> a.replace(u"^3", u"³")
+    u'abc mm \xc2\xb3'
+    ```
+    """
+    if sys.version_info.major < 3:
+        text = text.encode("utf8")
+    return text.replace(pattern, replacement)
+    
+
 def getStringList(objects):
     '''getStringList(objects): returns a string defining a list
     of objects'''
@@ -807,14 +826,14 @@ def survey(callback=False):
                                 if o.Object.Shape.Solids:
                                     u = FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(o.Object.Shape.Volume,FreeCAD.Units.Volume)
                                     t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-                                    t = t.encode("utf8").replace("^3","³")
+                                    t = string_replace(t, "^3","³")
                                     anno.LabelText = "v " + t
                                     FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Object: " + n + ", Element: Whole, Volume: " + utf8_decode(t) + "\n")
                                     FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalVolume += u.Value
                                 elif o.Object.Shape.Faces:
                                     u = FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(o.Object.Shape.Area,FreeCAD.Units.Area)
                                     t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-                                    t = t.encode("utf8").replace("^2","²")
+                                    t = string_replace(t, "^2","²")
                                     anno.LabelText = "a " + t
                                     FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Object: " + n + ", Element: Whole, Area: " + utf8_decode(t) + "\n")
                                     FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalArea += u.Value
@@ -850,7 +869,7 @@ def survey(callback=False):
                                     if "Face" in el:
                                         u = FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(e.Area,FreeCAD.Units.Area)
                                         t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-                                        t = t.encode("utf8").replace("^2","²")
+                                        t = string_replace(t, "^2","²")
                                         anno.LabelText = "a " + t
                                         FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Object: " + n + ", Element: " + el + ", Area: "+ utf8_decode(t)  + "\n")
                                         FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalArea += u.Value
@@ -859,7 +878,8 @@ def survey(callback=False):
                                     elif "Edge" in el:
                                         u= FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(e.Length,FreeCAD.Units.Length)
                                         t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-                                        t = t.encode("utf8")
+                                        if sys.version_info.major < 3:
+                                            t = t.encode("utf8")
                                         anno.LabelText = "l " + t
                                         FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Object: " + n + ", Element: " + el + ", Length: " + utf8_decode(t) + "\n")
                                         FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalLength += u.Value
@@ -884,17 +904,18 @@ def survey(callback=False):
                     if FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalLength:
                         u = FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalLength,FreeCAD.Units.Length)
                         t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-                        t = t.encode("utf8")
+                        if sys.version_info.major < 3:
+                            t = t.encode("utf8")
                         msg += " Length: " + t
                     if FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalArea:
                         u = FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalArea,FreeCAD.Units.Area)
                         t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-                        t = t.encode("utf8").replace("^2","²")
+                        t = string_replace(t, "^2","²")
                         msg += " Area: " + t
                     if FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalVolume:
                         u = FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalVolume,FreeCAD.Units.Volume)
                         t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-                        t = t.encode("utf8").replace("^3","³")
+                        t = string_replace(t, "^3","³")
                         msg += " Volume: " + t
                     FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage(msg+"\n")
 
@@ -1001,7 +1022,7 @@ class SurveyTaskPanel:
         if hasattr(FreeCAD,"SurveyObserver"):
             u = FreeCAD.Units.Quantity(FreeCAD.SurveyObserver.totalArea,FreeCAD.Units.Area)
             t = u.getUserPreferred()[0]
-            t = t.encode("utf8").replace("^2","²")
+            t = string_replace(t, "^2","²")
             if FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Arch").GetBool("surveyUnits",True):
                 QtGui.QApplication.clipboard().setText(t)
             else:
@@ -1038,7 +1059,7 @@ class SurveyTaskPanel:
     def update(self,column,txt):
         item = QtGui.QTreeWidgetItem(self.tree)
         self.tree.setCurrentItem(item)
-        item.setText(column,txt.decode("utf8"))
+        item.setText(column,utf8_decode(txt))
 
     def setDescr(self,item,col):
         self.descr.setText(item.text(0))