diff --git a/tests/test_connection.py b/tests/test_connection.py
index 8744488d..833751b9 100755
--- a/tests/test_connection.py
+++ b/tests/test_connection.py
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ class MakeDsnTestCase(ConnectingTestCase):
         conn = self.connect()
         d = conn.get_dsn_parameters()
         self.assertEqual(d['dbname'], dbname)  # the only param we can check reliably
-        self.assertNotIn('password', d)
+        self.assert_('password' not in d, d)
 
 
 class IsolationLevelsTestCase(ConnectingTestCase):
diff --git a/tests/test_module.py b/tests/test_module.py
index 1a9a19d4..6a1606d6 100755
--- a/tests/test_module.py
+++ b/tests/test_module.py
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ class ConnectTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_int_port_param(self):
         psycopg2.connect(database='sony', port=6543)
         dsn = " %s " % self.args[0]
-        self.assertIn(" dbname=sony ", dsn)
-        self.assertIn(" port=6543 ", dsn)
+        self.assert_(" dbname=sony " in dsn, dsn)
+        self.assert_(" port=6543 " in dsn, dsn)
 
     def test_empty_param(self):
         psycopg2.connect(database='sony', password='')
diff --git a/tests/test_quote.py b/tests/test_quote.py
index f74fd854..72c9c1e4 100755
--- a/tests/test_quote.py
+++ b/tests/test_quote.py
@@ -65,11 +65,13 @@ class QuotingTestCase(ConnectingTestCase):
         curs = self.conn.cursor()
         data = 'abcd\x01\x00cdefg'
 
-        with self.assertRaises(ValueError) as e:
+        try:
             curs.execute("SELECT %s", (data,))
-
-        self.assertEquals(str(e.exception),
-            'A string literal cannot contain NUL (0x00) characters.')
+        except ValueError as e:
+            self.assertEquals(str(e),
+                'A string literal cannot contain NUL (0x00) characters.')
+        else:
+            self.fail("ValueError not raised")
 
     def test_binary(self):
         data = b"""some data with \000\013 binary
diff --git a/tests/test_replication.py b/tests/test_replication.py
index ca99038a..2ccd4c77 100644
--- a/tests/test_replication.py
+++ b/tests/test_replication.py
@@ -35,11 +35,7 @@ from testutils import ConnectingTestCase
 
 class ReplicationTestCase(ConnectingTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        if not testconfig.repl_dsn:
-            self.skipTest("replication tests disabled by default")
-
         super(ReplicationTestCase, self).setUp()
-
         self.slot = testconfig.repl_slot
         self._slots = []
 
diff --git a/tests/testutils.py b/tests/testutils.py
index d0a34bcf..1dd0c999 100644
--- a/tests/testutils.py
+++ b/tests/testutils.py
@@ -122,6 +122,9 @@ class ConnectingTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         Should raise a skip test if not available, but guard for None on
         old Python versions.
         """
+        if repl_dsn is None:
+            return self.skipTest("replication tests disabled by default")
+
         if 'dsn' not in kwargs:
             kwargs['dsn'] = repl_dsn
         import psycopg2