diff --git a/pandas/core/dtypes/dtypes.py b/pandas/core/dtypes/dtypes.py
index dbe0dda022637..0403b3fb28847 100644
--- a/pandas/core/dtypes/dtypes.py
+++ b/pandas/core/dtypes/dtypes.py
@@ -661,11 +661,11 @@ def construct_from_string(cls, string):
         raise TypeError("could not construct PeriodDtype")
 
     def __unicode__(self):
-        return self.name
+        return compat.text_type(self.name)
 
     @property
     def name(self):
-        return u"period[{freq}]".format(freq=self.freq.freqstr)
+        return str("period[{freq}]".format(freq=self.freq.freqstr))
 
     @property
     def na_value(self):