diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ad12525766..07bf575bbc 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ check_version_info()
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 
 import setup.commands as commands
-from setup import prints, get_warnings
+from setup import get_warnings
 
 
 def option_parser():
@@ -93,13 +93,13 @@ def main(args=sys.argv):
         clean_backups()
 
     if opts.clean:
-        prints('Cleaning', args[1])
+        print('Cleaning', args[1])
         command.clean()
         return 0
 
     if opts.clean_all:
         for cmd in commands.__all__:
-            prints('Cleaning', cmd)
+            print('Cleaning', cmd)
             getattr(commands, cmd).clean()
         return 0
 
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ def main(args=sys.argv):
     warnings = get_warnings()
     if warnings:
         print()
-        prints('There were', len(warnings), 'warning(s):')
+        print('There were', len(warnings), 'warning(s):')
         print()
         for args, kwargs in warnings:
-            prints('*', *args, **kwargs)
+            print('*', *args, **kwargs)
             print()
 
     return 0
diff --git a/setup/__init__.py b/setup/__init__.py
index ea8c658092..b71ff1c65c 100644
--- a/setup/__init__.py
+++ b/setup/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python2
 # vim:fileencoding=UTF-8:ts=4:sw=4:sta:et:sts=4:ai
-from __future__ import with_statement
-from __future__ import print_function
+from __future__ import with_statement, print_function
 
 __license__   = 'GPL v3'
 __copyright__ = '2009, Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>'
@@ -120,46 +119,6 @@ initialize_constants()
 
 preferred_encoding = 'utf-8'
 
-
-def prints(*args, **kwargs):
-    '''
-    Print unicode arguments safely by encoding them to preferred_encoding
-    Has the same signature as the print function from Python 3, except for the
-    additional keyword argument safe_encode, which if set to True will cause the
-    function to use repr when encoding fails.
-    '''
-    file = kwargs.get('file', sys.stdout)
-    sep  = kwargs.get('sep', ' ')
-    end  = kwargs.get('end', '\n')
-    enc = preferred_encoding
-    safe_encode = kwargs.get('safe_encode', False)
-    for i, arg in enumerate(args):
-        if isinstance(arg, unicode):
-            try:
-                arg = arg.encode(enc)
-            except UnicodeEncodeError:
-                if not safe_encode:
-                    raise
-                arg = repr(arg)
-        if not isinstance(arg, str):
-            try:
-                arg = str(arg)
-            except ValueError:
-                arg = unicode(arg)
-            if isinstance(arg, unicode):
-                try:
-                    arg = arg.encode(enc)
-                except UnicodeEncodeError:
-                    if not safe_encode:
-                        raise
-                    arg = repr(arg)
-
-        file.write(arg)
-        if i != len(args)-1:
-            file.write(sep)
-    file.write(end)
-
-
 warnings = []
 
 
@@ -266,12 +225,12 @@ class Command(object):
         return newer(targets, sources)
 
     def info(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        prints(*args, **kwargs)
+        print(*args, **kwargs)
         sys.stdout.flush()
 
     def warn(self, *args, **kwargs):
         print('\n'+'_'*20, 'WARNING','_'*20)
-        prints(*args, **kwargs)
+        print(*args, **kwargs)
         print('_'*50)
         warnings.append((args, kwargs))
         sys.stdout.flush()