diff --git a/mediagoblin/_compat.py b/mediagoblin/_compat.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bbd91c3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mediagoblin/_compat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+import sys
+
+PY3 = sys.version_info[0] >= 3