diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 18ec75b62..473533422 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ path to the model data directory.
 ```python
 import spacy
 nlp = spacy.load("en_core_web_sm")
-doc = nlp(u"This is a sentence.")
+doc = nlp("This is a sentence.")
 ```
 
 You can also `import` a model directly via its full name and then call its
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ import spacy
 import en_core_web_sm
 
 nlp = en_core_web_sm.load()
-doc = nlp(u"This is a sentence.")
+doc = nlp("This is a sentence.")
 ```
 
 📖 **For more info and examples, check out the
diff --git a/examples/keras_parikh_entailment/__main__.py b/examples/keras_parikh_entailment/__main__.py
index b5849f0ca..ad398dae3 100644
--- a/examples/keras_parikh_entailment/__main__.py
+++ b/examples/keras_parikh_entailment/__main__.py
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ def demo(shape):
     nlp = spacy.load("en_vectors_web_lg")
     nlp.add_pipe(KerasSimilarityShim.load(nlp.path / "similarity", nlp, shape[0]))
 
-    doc1 = nlp(u"The king of France is bald.")
-    doc2 = nlp(u"France has no king.")
+    doc1 = nlp("The king of France is bald.")
+    doc2 = nlp("France has no king.")
 
     print("Sentence 1:", doc1)
     print("Sentence 2:", doc2)