diff --git a/resources/lib/entrypoint.py b/resources/lib/entrypoint.py
index ce21bdc3..69a41b2c 100644
--- a/resources/lib/entrypoint.py
+++ b/resources/lib/entrypoint.py
@@ -364,10 +364,8 @@ def extra_fanart(plex_id, plex_path):
         # Use existing cached images
         fanart_dir = fanart_dir
         for root, _, files in path_ops.walk(fanart_dir):
-            root = utils.decode_path(root)
             for file in files:
-                file = utils.decode_path(file)
-                art_file = utils.try_encode(path_ops.path.join(root, file))
+                art_file = path_ops.path.join(root, file)
                 listitem = ListItem(file, path=art_file)
                 xbmcplugin.addDirectoryItem(handle=int(sys.argv[1]),
                                             url=art_file,
diff --git a/resources/lib/kodi_db/__init__.py b/resources/lib/kodi_db/__init__.py
index 90033fad..c3cd3346 100644
--- a/resources/lib/kodi_db/__init__.py
+++ b/resources/lib/kodi_db/__init__.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def reset_cached_images():
         for path in paths:
             new_path = path_ops.translate_path('special://thumbnails/%s' % path)
             try:
-                path_ops.makedirs(path_ops.encode_path(new_path))
+                path_ops.makedirs(new_path)
             except OSError as err:
                 LOG.warn('Could not create thumbnail directory %s: %s',
                          new_path, err)
diff --git a/resources/lib/kodi_db/video.py b/resources/lib/kodi_db/video.py
index 370476fd..f307bb54 100644
--- a/resources/lib/kodi_db/video.py
+++ b/resources/lib/kodi_db/video.py
@@ -61,8 +61,7 @@ class KodiVideoDB(common.KodiDBBase):
         of parent path ids
         """
         parentpath = path_ops.path.abspath(
-            path_ops.path.join(path,
-                               path_ops.decode_path(path_ops.path.pardir)))
+            path_ops.path.join(path, path_ops.path.pardir))
         pathid = self.get_path(parentpath)
         if pathid is None:
             self.cursor.execute('''
diff --git a/resources/lib/path_ops.py b/resources/lib/path_ops.py
index f6f62b16..f0363f5d 100644
--- a/resources/lib/path_ops.py
+++ b/resources/lib/path_ops.py
@@ -22,33 +22,11 @@ import re
 
 import xbmcvfs
 
-from .tools import unicode_paths
-
 # Kodi seems to encode in utf-8 in ALL cases (unlike e.g. the OS filesystem)
 KODI_ENCODING = 'utf-8'
 REGEX_FILE_NUMBERING = re.compile(r'''_(\d\d)\.\w+$''')
 
 
-def encode_path(path):
-    """
-    Filenames and paths are not necessarily utf-8 encoded. Use this function
-    instead of try_encode/trydecode if working with filenames and paths!
-    (os.walk only feeds on encoded paths. sys.getfilesystemencoding returns None
-    for Raspberry Pi)
-    """
-    return unicode_paths.encode(path)
-
-
-def decode_path(path):
-    """
-    Filenames and paths are not necessarily utf-8 encoded. Use this function
-    instead of try_encode/trydecode if working with filenames and paths!
-    (os.walk only feeds on encoded paths. sys.getfilesystemencoding returns None
-    for Raspberry Pi)
-    """
-    return unicode_paths.decode(path)
-
-
 def translate_path(path):
     """
     Returns the XBMC translated path [unicode]
diff --git a/resources/lib/playlists/common.py b/resources/lib/playlists/common.py
index 4de357ea..02131ad9 100644
--- a/resources/lib/playlists/common.py
+++ b/resources/lib/playlists/common.py
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ def kodi_playlist_hash(path):
 
     There are probably way more efficient ways out there to do this
     """
-    stat = os.stat(path_ops.encode_path(path))
+    stat = os.stat(path)
     # stat.st_size is of type long; stat.st_mtime is of type float - hash both
     m = hashlib.md5()
     m.update(repr(stat.st_size))
diff --git a/resources/lib/playlists/db.py b/resources/lib/playlists/db.py
index 43c6b8fa..ccfd337c 100644
--- a/resources/lib/playlists/db.py
+++ b/resources/lib/playlists/db.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ def m3u_to_plex_ids(playlist):
     Adapter to process *.m3u playlist files. Encoding is not uniform!
     """
     plex_ids = list()
-    with open(path_ops.encode_path(playlist.kodi_path), 'rb') as f:
+    with open(playlist.kodi_path, 'rb') as f:
         text = f.read()
     try:
         text = text.decode(v.M3U_ENCODING)
diff --git a/resources/lib/playlists/kodi_pl.py b/resources/lib/playlists/kodi_pl.py
index 91808441..75685f76 100644
--- a/resources/lib/playlists/kodi_pl.py
+++ b/resources/lib/playlists/kodi_pl.py
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ def _write_playlist_to_file(playlist, xml):
     text += '\n'
     text = text.encode(v.M3U_ENCODING, 'ignore')
     try:
-        with open(path_ops.encode_path(playlist.kodi_path), 'wb') as f:
+        with open(playlist.kodi_path, 'wb') as f:
             f.write(text)
     except EnvironmentError as err:
         LOG.error('Could not write Kodi playlist file: %s', playlist)
diff --git a/resources/lib/plex_api/media.py b/resources/lib/plex_api/media.py
index 24090a2c..5d7cc080 100644
--- a/resources/lib/plex_api/media.py
+++ b/resources/lib/plex_api/media.py
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ class Media(object):
             return
         else:
             LOG.debug('Writing temp subtitle to %s', path)
-            with open(path_ops.encode_path(path), 'wb') as f:
+            with open(path, 'wb') as f:
                 f.write(response.content)
             return path
 
diff --git a/resources/lib/tools/unicode_paths.py b/resources/lib/tools/unicode_paths.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 3f8df963..00000000
--- a/resources/lib/tools/unicode_paths.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-#
-# Copyright (c) 2013 Will Bond <will@wbond.net>
-#
-# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
-# of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
-# in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
-# to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
-# copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
-# furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
-#
-# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
-# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
-#
-# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
-# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
-# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
-# AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
-# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
-# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
-# SOFTWARE.
-
-
-import sys
-
-from . import platform
-
-try:
-    # Python 2
-    str_cls = str
-    bytes_cls = str
-except NameError:
-    # Python 3
-    str_cls = str
-    bytes_cls = bytes
-
-
-# This is used by Linux when the locale seems to be improperly set. UTF-8 tends
-# to be the encoding used by all distros, so this is a good fallback.
-fs_fallback_encoding = 'utf-8'
-fs_encoding = sys.getfilesystemencoding() or fs_fallback_encoding
-
-
-def encode(path):
-    if isinstance(path, str_cls):
-        try:
-            path = path.encode(fs_encoding, 'strict')
-        except UnicodeEncodeError:
-            if not platform.is_linux():
-                raise
-            path = path.encode(fs_fallback_encoding, 'strict')
-    return path
-
-
-def decode(path):
-    if isinstance(path, bytes_cls):
-        try:
-            path = path.decode(fs_encoding, 'strict')
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            if not platform.is_linux():
-                raise
-            path = path.decode(fs_fallback_encoding, 'strict')
-    return path