diff --git a/GPy/__init__.py b/GPy/__init__.py
index 5bbdeff8..8af8a4f6 100644
--- a/GPy/__init__.py
+++ b/GPy/__init__.py
@@ -42,16 +42,20 @@ def load(file_or_path):
 
     :param file_name: path/to/file.pickle
     """
+    try:
+        str = basestring
+    except:
+        pass
     try:
         import cPickle as pickle
-        if isinstance(file_or_path, basestring): 
+        if isinstance(file_or_path, str): 
             with open(file_or_path, 'rb') as f:
                 m = pickle.load(f)
         else:
             m = pickle.load(file_or_path)
     except:
         import pickle
-        if isinstance(file_or_path, basestring): 
+        if isinstance(file_or_path, str): 
             with open(file_or_path, 'rb') as f:
                 m = pickle.load(f)
         else: