diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fa334bf1b0a..e94131d8348 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ MOCK_CFG ?=
 
 NOSETESTS ?= nosetests
 
-NOSETESTS3 ?= nosetests-3.3
+NOSETESTS3 ?= nosetests-3.4
 
 ########################################################
 
@@ -102,11 +102,8 @@ all: clean python
 tests:
 	PYTHONPATH=./lib $(NOSETESTS) -d -w test/units -v --with-coverage --cover-package=ansible --cover-branches
 
-newtests:
-	PYTHONPATH=./v2:./lib $(NOSETESTS) -d -w v2/test -v --with-coverage --cover-package=ansible --cover-branches
-
-newtests-py3:
-	PYTHONPATH=./v2:./lib $(NOSETESTS3) -d -w v2/test -v --with-coverage --cover-package=ansible --cover-branches
+tests-py3:
+	PYTHONPATH=./lib $(NOSETESTS3) -d -w test/units -v --with-coverage --cover-package=ansible --cover-branches
 
 authors:
 	sh hacking/authors.sh
diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
index cb61f3da7b6..0da00053a0e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
@@ -1262,23 +1262,41 @@ class AnsibleModule(object):
                 log_args = dict()
 
             module = 'ansible-%s' % os.path.basename(__file__)
+            if isinstance(module, bytes):
+                module = module.decode('utf-8', 'replace')
 
             # 6655 - allow for accented characters
-            if isinstance(msg, unicode):
-                # We should never get here as msg should be type str, not unicode
-                msg = msg.encode('utf-8')
+            if not isinstance(msg, (bytes, unicode)):
+                raise TypeError("msg should be a string (got %s)" % type(msg))
 
-            if (has_journal):
+            # We want journal to always take text type
+            # syslog takes bytes on py2, text type on py3
+            if sys.version_info >= (3,):
+                if isinstance(msg, bytes):
+                    journal_msg = msg.decode('utf-8', 'replace')
+                    syslog_msg = journal_msg
+                else:
+                    # TODO: surrogateescape is a danger here
+                    journal_msg = syslog_msg = msg
+            else:
+                if isinstance(msg, bytes):
+                    journal_msg = msg.decode('utf-8', 'replace')
+                    syslog_msg = msg
+                else:
+                     journal_msg = msg
+                     syslog_msg = msg.encode('utf-8', 'replace')
+
+            if has_journal:
                 journal_args = [("MODULE", os.path.basename(__file__))]
                 for arg in log_args:
                     journal_args.append((arg.upper(), str(log_args[arg])))
                 try:
-                    journal.send("%s %s" % (module, msg), **dict(journal_args))
+                    journal.send(u"%s %s" % (module, journal_msg), **dict(journal_args))
                 except IOError:
                     # fall back to syslog since logging to journal failed
-                    self._log_to_syslog(msg)
+                    self._log_to_syslog(syslog_msg)
             else:
-                self._log_to_syslog(msg)
+                self._log_to_syslog(syslog_msg)
 
     def _log_invocation(self):
         ''' log that ansible ran the module '''
diff --git a/test/units/module_utils/basic/__init__.py b/test/units/module_utils/basic/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/test/units/module_utils/basic/test_log.py b/test/units/module_utils/basic/test_log.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6998106c73b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/units/module_utils/basic/test_log.py
@@ -0,0 +1,237 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# (c) 2012-2014, Michael DeHaan <michael.dehaan@gmail.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Make coding more python3-ish
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division)
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+import sys
+import syslog
+
+from ansible.compat.tests import unittest
+from ansible.compat.tests.mock import patch, MagicMock
+
+from ansible.module_utils import basic
+
+try:
+    # Python 3.4+
+    from importlib import reload
+except ImportError:
+    # Python 2 has reload as a builtin
+
+    # Ignoring python3.0-3.3 (those have imp.reload if we decide we care)
+    pass
+
+
+class TestAnsibleModuleSysLogSmokeTest(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.complex_args_token = basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = '{}'
+        self.am = basic.AnsibleModule(
+            argument_spec = dict(),
+        )
+
+        self.has_journal = basic.has_journal
+        if self.has_journal:
+            # Systems with journal can still test syslog
+            basic.has_journal = False
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = self.complex_args_token
+        basic.has_journal = self.has_journal
+
+    def test_smoketest_syslog(self):
+        # These talk to the live daemons on the system.  Need to do this to
+        # show that what we send doesn't cause an issue once it gets to the
+        # daemon.  These are just smoketests to test that we don't fail.
+
+        self.am.log(u'Text string')
+        self.am.log(u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test')
+
+        self.am.log(b'Byte string')
+        self.am.log(u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test'.encode('utf-8'))
+        self.am.log(b'non-utf8 :\xff: test')
+
+
+class TestAnsibleModuleJournaldSmokeTest(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.complex_args_token = basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = '{}'
+        self.am = basic.AnsibleModule(
+            argument_spec = dict(),
+        )
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = self.complex_args_token
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(basic.has_journal, 'python systemd bindings not installed')
+    def test_smoketest_journal(self):
+        # These talk to the live daemons on the system.  Need to do this to
+        # show that what we send doesn't cause an issue once it gets to the
+        # daemon.  These are just smoketests to test that we don't fail.
+
+        self.am.log(u'Text string')
+        self.am.log(u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test')
+
+        self.am.log(b'Byte string')
+        self.am.log(u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test'.encode('utf-8'))
+        self.am.log(b'non-utf8 :\xff: test')
+
+
+class TestAnsibleModuleLogSyslog(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Test the AnsibleModule Log Method"""
+
+    py2_output_data = {
+            u'Text string': b'Text string',
+            u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test': u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test'.encode('utf-8'),
+            b'Byte string': b'Byte string',
+            u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test'.encode('utf-8'): u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test'.encode('utf-8'),
+            b'non-utf8 :\xff: test': b'non-utf8 :\xff: test'
+            }
+
+    py3_output_data = {
+            u'Text string': u'Text string',
+            u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test': u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test',
+            b'Byte string': u'Byte string',
+            u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test'.encode('utf-8'): u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test',
+            b'non-utf8 :\xff: test': b'non-utf8 :\xff: test'.decode('utf-8', 'replace')
+            }
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.complex_args_token = basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = '{}'
+        self.am = basic.AnsibleModule(
+            argument_spec = dict(),
+        )
+        self.has_journal = basic.has_journal
+        if self.has_journal:
+            # Systems with journal can still test syslog
+            basic.has_journal = False
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = self.complex_args_token
+        basic.has_journal = self.has_journal
+
+    @patch('syslog.syslog', autospec=True)
+    def test_no_log(self, mock_func):
+        no_log = self.am.no_log
+
+        self.am.no_log = True
+        self.am.log('unittest no_log')
+        self.assertFalse(mock_func.called)
+
+        self.am.no_log = False
+        self.am.log('unittest no_log')
+        mock_func.assert_called_once_with(syslog.LOG_INFO, 'unittest no_log')
+
+        self.am.no_log = no_log
+
+    def test_output_matches(self):
+        if sys.version_info >= (3,):
+            output_data = self.py3_output_data
+        else:
+            output_data = self.py2_output_data
+
+        for msg, param in output_data.items():
+            with patch('syslog.syslog', autospec=True) as mock_func:
+                self.am.log(msg)
+                mock_func.assert_called_once_with(syslog.LOG_INFO, param)
+
+
+class TestAnsibleModuleLogJournal(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Test the AnsibleModule Log Method"""
+
+    output_data = {
+            u'Text string': u'Text string',
+            u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test': u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test',
+            b'Byte string': u'Byte string',
+            u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test'.encode('utf-8'): u'Toshio くらとみ non-ascii test',
+            b'non-utf8 :\xff: test': b'non-utf8 :\xff: test'.decode('utf-8', 'replace')
+            }
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.complex_args_token = basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = '{}'
+        self.am = basic.AnsibleModule(
+            argument_spec = dict(),
+        )
+
+        self.has_journal = basic.has_journal
+        basic.has_journal = True
+        self.module_patcher = None
+
+        # In case systemd-python is not installed
+        if not self.has_journal:
+            self.module_patcher = patch.dict('sys.modules', {'systemd': MagicMock(), 'systemd.journal': MagicMock()})
+            self.module_patcher.start()
+            try:
+                reload(basic)
+            except NameError:
+                self._fake_out_reload(basic)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        basic.MODULE_COMPLEX_ARGS = self.complex_args_token
+        basic.has_journal = self.has_journal
+        if self.module_patcher:
+            self.module_patcher.stop()
+            reload(basic)
+
+    @patch('systemd.journal.send')
+    def test_no_log(self, mock_func):
+        no_log = self.am.no_log
+
+        self.am.no_log = True
+        self.am.log('unittest no_log')
+        self.assertFalse(mock_func.called)
+
+        self.am.no_log = False
+        self.am.log('unittest no_log')
+        self.assertEqual(mock_func.called, 1)
+
+        # Message
+        # call_args is a 2-tuple of (arg_list, kwarg_dict)
+        self.assertTrue(mock_func.call_args[0][0].endswith('unittest no_log'), msg='Message was not sent to log')
+        # log adds this journal field
+        self.assertIn('MODULE', mock_func.call_args[1])
+        self.assertIn('basic.py', mock_func.call_args[1]['MODULE'])
+
+        self.am.no_log = no_log
+
+    def test_output_matches(self):
+        for msg, param in self.output_data.items():
+            with patch('systemd.journal.send', autospec=True) as mock_func:
+                self.am.log(msg)
+                self.assertEqual(mock_func.call_count, 1, msg='journal.send not called exactly once')
+                self.assertTrue(mock_func.call_args[0][0].endswith(param))
+
+    @patch('systemd.journal.send')
+    def test_log_args(self, mock_func):
+        self.am.log('unittest log_args', log_args=dict(TEST='log unittest'))
+        self.assertEqual(mock_func.called, 1)
+        self.assertTrue(mock_func.call_args[0][0].endswith('unittest log_args'), msg='Message was not sent to log')
+
+        # log adds this journal field
+        self.assertIn('MODULE', mock_func.call_args[1])
+        self.assertIn('basic.py', mock_func.call_args[1]['MODULE'])
+
+        # We added this journal field
+        self.assertIn('TEST', mock_func.call_args[1])
+        self.assertIn('log unittest', mock_func.call_args[1]['TEST'])
+