diff --git a/devel/release-checks.sh b/devel/release-checks.sh
index 797d62ac..ae02f557 100755
--- a/devel/release-checks.sh
+++ b/devel/release-checks.sh
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 echo -n "Checking that python bindings version is $VERSION... "
-py_version=`python -c "execfile('$PV_FILE'); print __VERSION__"`
+py_version=`python -c "with open('$PV_FILE') as vf: exec(vf.read()); print __VERSION__"`
 if [ "$py_version" = "$VERSION" ]
 then
 	echo Yes.
diff --git a/doc/prerst2man.py b/doc/prerst2man.py
index 437dea99..968722a1 100644
--- a/doc/prerst2man.py
+++ b/doc/prerst2man.py
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ outdir = argv[2]
 if not isdir(outdir):
     makedirs(outdir, 0o755)
 
-execfile(sourcedir + "/conf.py")
+with open(sourcedir + "/conf.py") as cf:
+    exec(cf.read())
 
 
 def header(file, startdocname, command, description, authors, section):