diff --git a/sshagent/formats.py b/sshagent/formats.py
index 792aa66..a374d66 100644
--- a/sshagent/formats.py
+++ b/sshagent/formats.py
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ import logging
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 DER_OCTET_STRING = b'\x04'
-ECDSA_KEY_TYPE = 'ecdsa-sha2-nistp256'
-ECDSA_CURVE_NAME = 'nistp256'
+ECDSA_KEY_TYPE = b'ecdsa-sha2-nistp256'
+ECDSA_CURVE_NAME = b'nistp256'
 
 curve = ecdsa.NIST256p
 hashfunc = hashlib.sha256
@@ -57,21 +57,23 @@ def decompress_pubkey(pub):
     B = curve.curve.b()
     x = util.bytes2num(pub[1:33])
     beta = pow(int(x*x*x+A*x+B), int((P+1)//4), int(P))
-    y = (P-beta) if ((beta + ord(pub[0])) % 2) else beta
+
+    p0 = util.bytes2num(pub[:1])
+    y = (P-beta) if ((beta + p0) % 2) else beta
 
     point = ecdsa.ellipticcurve.Point(curve.curve, x, y)
     vk = ecdsa.VerifyingKey.from_public_point(point, curve=curve,
                                               hashfunc=hashfunc)
     parts = [ECDSA_KEY_TYPE, ECDSA_CURVE_NAME,
              DER_OCTET_STRING + vk.to_string()]
-    return ''.join([util.frame(p) for p in parts])
+    return b''.join([util.frame(p) for p in parts])
 
 
 def export_public_key(pubkey, label):
     blob = decompress_pubkey(pubkey)
     log.debug('fingerprint: %s', fingerprint(blob))
-    b64 = base64.b64encode(blob)
-    return '{} {} {}\n'.format(ECDSA_KEY_TYPE, b64, label)
+    b64 = base64.b64encode(blob).decode('ascii')
+    return '{} {} {}\n'.format(ECDSA_KEY_TYPE.decode('ascii'), b64, label)
 
 
 def import_public_key(line):
diff --git a/sshagent/tests/test_formats.py b/sshagent/tests/test_formats.py
index b79b015..8de32ea 100644
--- a/sshagent/tests/test_formats.py
+++ b/sshagent/tests/test_formats.py
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ from .. import formats
 
 def test_fingerprint():
     fp = '5d:41:40:2a:bc:4b:2a:76:b9:71:9d:91:10:17:c5:92'
-    assert formats.fingerprint('hello') == fp
+    assert formats.fingerprint(b'hello') == fp
 
 
 _point = (
-    44423495295951059636974944244307637263954375053872017334547086177777411863925L,  # nopep8
-    111713194882028655451852320740440245619792555065469028846314891587105736340201L  # nopep8
+    44423495295951059636974944244307637263954375053872017334547086177777411863925,  # nopep8
+    111713194882028655451852320740440245619792555065469028846314891587105736340201  # nopep8
 )
 
 _public_key = (
@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@ _public_key = (
 
 def test_parse_public_key():
     key = formats.import_public_key(_public_key)
-    assert key['name'] == 'home'
+    assert key['name'] == b'home'
     assert key['point'] == _point
 
-    assert key['curve'] == 'nistp256'
+    assert key['curve'] == b'nistp256'
     assert key['fingerprint'] == '4b:19:bc:0f:c8:7e:dc:fa:1a:e3:c2:ff:6f:e0:80:a2'  # nopep8
-    assert key['type'] == 'ecdsa-sha2-nistp256'
+    assert key['type'] == b'ecdsa-sha2-nistp256'
     assert key['size'] == 32