diff --git a/django/conf/__init__.py b/django/conf/__init__.py
index c98443be1a3..c4b9634d832 100644
--- a/django/conf/__init__.py
+++ b/django/conf/__init__.py
@@ -59,14 +59,10 @@ class LazySettings(LazyObject):
         Setup logging from LOGGING_CONFIG and LOGGING settings.
         """
         if not sys.warnoptions:
-            try:
-                # Route warnings through python logging
-                logging.captureWarnings(True)
-                # Allow DeprecationWarnings through the warnings filters
-                warnings.simplefilter("default", DeprecationWarning)
-            except AttributeError:
-                # No captureWarnings on Python 2.6, DeprecationWarnings are on anyway
-                pass
+            # Route warnings through python logging
+            logging.captureWarnings(True)
+            # Allow DeprecationWarnings through the warnings filters
+            warnings.simplefilter("default", DeprecationWarning)
 
         if self.LOGGING_CONFIG:
             from django.utils.log import DEFAULT_LOGGING
diff --git a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
index 92dbf354ae7..4345790b06c 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
@@ -78,14 +78,8 @@ Database.register_converter(str("decimal"), decoder(util.typecast_decimal))
 
 Database.register_adapter(datetime.datetime, adapt_datetime_with_timezone_support)
 Database.register_adapter(decimal.Decimal, util.rev_typecast_decimal)
-if Database.version_info >= (2, 4, 1):
-    # Starting in 2.4.1, the str type is not accepted anymore, therefore,
-    # we convert all str objects to Unicode
-    # As registering a adapter for a primitive type causes a small
-    # slow-down, this adapter is only registered for sqlite3 versions
-    # needing it (Python 2.6 and up).
-    Database.register_adapter(str, lambda s: s.decode('utf-8'))
-    Database.register_adapter(SafeBytes, lambda s: s.decode('utf-8'))
+Database.register_adapter(str, lambda s: s.decode('utf-8'))
+Database.register_adapter(SafeBytes, lambda s: s.decode('utf-8'))
 
 class DatabaseFeatures(BaseDatabaseFeatures):
     # SQLite cannot handle us only partially reading from a cursor's result set
diff --git a/django/db/models/fields/related.py b/django/db/models/fields/related.py
index ff222e1b85f..1e7e73ddbe5 100644
--- a/django/db/models/fields/related.py
+++ b/django/db/models/fields/related.py
@@ -1362,9 +1362,7 @@ class ManyToManyField(RelatedField):
             assert not to._meta.abstract, "%s cannot define a relation with abstract class %s" % (self.__class__.__name__, to._meta.object_name)
         except AttributeError:  # to._meta doesn't exist, so it must be RECURSIVE_RELATIONSHIP_CONSTANT
             assert isinstance(to, six.string_types), "%s(%r) is invalid. First parameter to ManyToManyField must be either a model, a model name, or the string %r" % (self.__class__.__name__, to, RECURSIVE_RELATIONSHIP_CONSTANT)
-            # Python 2.6 and earlier require dictionary keys to be of str type,
-            # not unicode and class names must be ASCII (in Python 2.x), so we
-            # forcibly coerce it here (breaks early if there's a problem).
+            # Class names must be ASCII in Python 2.x, so we forcibly coerce it here to break early if there's a problem.
             to = str(to)
 
         kwargs['verbose_name'] = kwargs.get('verbose_name', None)
diff --git a/django/db/utils.py b/django/db/utils.py
index acb838f9404..36b89d9acfd 100644
--- a/django/db/utils.py
+++ b/django/db/utils.py
@@ -85,12 +85,7 @@ class DatabaseErrorWrapper(object):
             ):
             db_exc_type = getattr(self.wrapper.Database, dj_exc_type.__name__)
             if issubclass(exc_type, db_exc_type):
-                # Under Python 2.6, exc_value can still be a string.
-                try:
-                    args = tuple(exc_value.args)
-                except AttributeError:
-                    args = (exc_value,)
-                dj_exc_value = dj_exc_type(*args)
+                dj_exc_value = dj_exc_type(*exc_value.args)
                 dj_exc_value.__cause__ = exc_value
                 # Only set the 'errors_occurred' flag for errors that may make
                 # the connection unusable.