diff --git a/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_remove_custom_column.py b/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_remove_custom_column.py
index d137440538..e2d37c7437 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_remove_custom_column.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/cli/cmd_remove_custom_column.py
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function, unicode_literals
 
+import sys
 from calibre import prints
 from calibre.db.legacy import LibraryDatabase
+from polyglot.builtins import raw_input
 
 readonly = False
 version = 0  # change this if you change signature of implementation()
@@ -37,9 +39,16 @@ columns with the custom_columns command.
     return parser
 
 
+def input_unicode(prompt):
+    ans = raw_input(prompt)
+    if isinstance(ans, bytes):
+        ans = ans.decode(sys.stdin.encoding)
+    return ans
+
+
 def do_remove_custom_column(db, label, force):
     if not force:
-        q = raw_input(
+        q = input_unicode(
             _('You will lose all data in the column: %s.'
               ' Are you sure (y/n)? ') % label
         )
diff --git a/src/calibre/debug.py b/src/calibre/debug.py
index f925e4a824..0b7019c8ce 100644
--- a/src/calibre/debug.py
+++ b/src/calibre/debug.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import sys, os, functools
 from calibre.utils.config import OptionParser
 from calibre.constants import iswindows
 from calibre import prints
-from polyglot.builtins import exec_path
+from polyglot.builtins import exec_path, raw_input
 
 
 def get_debug_executable():
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf2xml/output.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf2xml/output.py
index 8b1e475012..6101532853 100755
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf2xml/output.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/rtf2xml/output.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #                                                                       #
 #########################################################################
 import sys, os
+from polyglot.builtins import raw_input
 # , codecs
 
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/rpdb.py b/src/calibre/rpdb.py
index 9b8b8bb1a6..f4eafbcc87 100644
--- a/src/calibre/rpdb.py
+++ b/src/calibre/rpdb.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import pdb, socket, inspect, sys, select, os, atexit, time
 from calibre import prints
 from calibre.utils.ipc import eintr_retry_call
 from calibre.constants import cache_dir
-from polyglot.builtins import range
+from polyglot.builtins import range, raw_input
 
 PROMPT = b'(debug) '
 QUESTION = b'\x00\x01\x02'
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ def cli(port=4444):
     p = pdb.Pdb()
     readline.set_completer(p.complete)
     readline.parse_and_bind("tab: complete")
+    stdin = getattr(sys.stdin, 'buffer', sys.stdin)
+    stdout = getattr(sys.stdout, 'buffer', sys.stdout)
 
     try:
         while True:
@@ -133,15 +135,19 @@ def cli(port=4444):
             recvd = recvd[:-len(PROMPT)]
             if recvd.startswith(QUESTION):
                 recvd = recvd[len(QUESTION):]
-                sys.stdout.write(recvd)
-                raw = sys.stdin.readline() or b'n'
+                stdout.write(recvd)
+                raw = stdin.readline() or b'n'
             else:
-                sys.stdout.write(recvd)
+                stdout.write(recvd)
                 raw = b''
                 try:
-                    raw = raw_input(PROMPT) + b'\n'
+                    raw = raw_input(PROMPT.decode('utf-8'))
                 except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt):
                     pass
+                else:
+                    if not isinstance(raw, bytes):
+                        raw = raw.encode('utf-8')
+                    raw += b'\n'
                 if not raw:
                     raw = b'quit\n'
             eintr_retry_call(sock.send, raw)
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/manage_users_cli.py b/src/calibre/srv/manage_users_cli.py
index 916e6d7358..31423e594b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/manage_users_cli.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/manage_users_cli.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from functools import partial
 
 from calibre import prints
 from calibre.constants import preferred_encoding
-from polyglot.builtins import iteritems
+from polyglot.builtins import iteritems, raw_input
 
 # Manage users CLI {{{
 
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ def manage_users_cli(path=None):
 
     def get_input(prompt):
         prints(prompt, end=' ')
-        return raw_input().decode(enc)
+        ans = raw_input()
+        if isinstance(ans, bytes):
+            ans = ans.decode(enc)
+        return ans
 
     def choice(
         question=_('What do you want to do?'), choices=(), default=None, banner=''):
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/exim.py b/src/calibre/utils/exim.py
index fbb16a518f..dd384f30d6 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/exim.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/exim.py
@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ from binascii import hexlify
 from collections import Counter
 
 from calibre import prints
-from calibre.constants import config_dir, iswindows, filesystem_encoding
+from calibre.constants import config_dir, iswindows
 from calibre.utils.config_base import prefs, StringConfig, create_global_prefs
 from calibre.utils.config import JSONConfig
 from calibre.utils.filenames import samefile
-from polyglot.builtins import iteritems
+from polyglot.builtins import iteritems, raw_input
 
 
 # Export {{{
@@ -386,6 +386,13 @@ def cli_report(*args, **kw):
         pass
 
 
+def input_unicode(prompt):
+    ans = raw_input(prompt)
+    if isinstance(ans, bytes):
+        ans = ans.decode(sys.stdin.encoding)
+    return ans
+
+
 def run_exporter(export_dir=None, args=None):
     if args:
         if len(args) < 2:
@@ -407,9 +414,8 @@ def run_exporter(export_dir=None, args=None):
         export(export_dir, progress1=cli_report, progress2=cli_report, library_paths=libraries)
         return
 
-    export_dir = export_dir or raw_input(
-            'Enter path to an empty folder (all exported data will be saved inside it): ').decode(
-                    filesystem_encoding).rstrip('\r')
+    export_dir = export_dir or input_unicode(
+        'Enter path to an empty folder (all exported data will be saved inside it): ').rstrip('\r')
     if not os.path.exists(export_dir):
         os.makedirs(export_dir)
     if not os.path.isdir(export_dir):
@@ -418,7 +424,7 @@ def run_exporter(export_dir=None, args=None):
         raise SystemExit('%s is not empty' % export_dir)
     library_paths = {}
     for lpath, lus in iteritems(all_known_libraries()):
-        if raw_input('Export the library %s [y/n]: ' % lpath).strip().lower() == b'y':
+        if input_unicode('Export the library %s [y/n]: ' % lpath).strip().lower() == 'y':
             library_paths[lpath] = lus
     if library_paths:
         export(export_dir, progress1=cli_report, progress2=cli_report, library_paths=library_paths)
@@ -427,7 +433,7 @@ def run_exporter(export_dir=None, args=None):
 
 
 def run_importer():
-    export_dir = raw_input('Enter path to folder containing previously exported data: ').decode(filesystem_encoding).rstrip('\r')
+    export_dir = input_unicode('Enter path to folder containing previously exported data: ').rstrip('\r')
     if not os.path.isdir(export_dir):
         raise SystemExit('%s is not a folder' % export_dir)
     try:
@@ -435,7 +441,7 @@ def run_importer():
     except ValueError as err:
         raise SystemExit(err.message)
 
-    import_dir = raw_input('Enter path to an empty folder (all libraries will be created inside this folder): ').decode(filesystem_encoding).rstrip('\r')
+    import_dir = input_unicode('Enter path to an empty folder (all libraries will be created inside this folder): ').rstrip('\r')
     if not os.path.exists(import_dir):
         os.makedirs(import_dir)
     if not os.path.isdir(import_dir):
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/matcher.py b/src/calibre/utils/matcher.py
index 96f80fd021..20e1cc9135 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/matcher.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/matcher.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from itertools import islice
 from calibre import detect_ncpus as cpu_count, as_unicode
 from calibre.constants import plugins, filesystem_encoding
 from calibre.utils.icu import primary_sort_key, primary_find, primary_collator
-from polyglot.builtins import iteritems, itervalues, map, unicode_type, range, zip
+from polyglot.builtins import iteritems, itervalues, map, unicode_type, range, zip, raw_input
 from polyglot.queue import Queue
 
 DEFAULT_LEVEL1 = '/'
@@ -335,13 +335,20 @@ else:
         return string[pos:pos + chs]
 
 
+def input_unicode(prompt):
+    ans = raw_input(prompt)
+    if isinstance(ans, bytes):
+        ans = ans.decode(sys.stdin.encoding)
+    return ans
+
+
 def main(basedir=None, query=None):
     from calibre import prints
     from calibre.utils.terminal import ColoredStream
     if basedir is None:
         try:
-            basedir = raw_input('Enter directory to scan [%s]: ' % os.getcwdu()
-                                ).decode(sys.stdin.encoding).strip() or os.getcwdu()
+            basedir = input_unicode('Enter directory to scan [%s]: ' % os.getcwdu()
+                                ).strip() or os.getcwdu()
         except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt):
             return
     m = FilesystemMatcher(basedir)
@@ -349,7 +356,7 @@ def main(basedir=None, query=None):
     while True:
         if query is None:
             try:
-                query = raw_input('Enter query: ').decode(sys.stdin.encoding)
+                query = input_unicode('Enter query: ')
             except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt):
                 break
             if not query:
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/rapydscript.py b/src/calibre/utils/rapydscript.py
index 9ae3199036..c8fd0c494a 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/rapydscript.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/rapydscript.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from calibre.utils.filenames import atomic_rename
 from calibre.utils.terminal import ANSIStream
 from duktape import Context, JSError, to_python
 from lzma.xz import compress, decompress
-from polyglot.builtins import itervalues, range, exec_path
+from polyglot.builtins import itervalues, range, exec_path, raw_input
 from polyglot.queue import Empty, Queue
 
 COMPILER_PATH = 'rapydscript/compiler.js.xz'
diff --git a/src/polyglot/builtins.py b/src/polyglot/builtins.py
index 23158cc7bf..71b7e2fa50 100644
--- a/src/polyglot/builtins.py
+++ b/src/polyglot/builtins.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ if is_py3:
     unicode_type = str
     string_or_bytes = str, bytes
     long_type = int
+    raw_input = input
 
     def iteritems(d):
         return iter(d.items())
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ else:
     string_or_bytes = unicode, bytes
     long_type = long
     exec_path = execfile
+    raw_input = builtins['raw_input']
 
     def iteritems(d):
         return d.iteritems()