diff --git a/scripts/projects.py b/scripts/projects.py
index 46a553b9..a8484c10 100644
--- a/scripts/projects.py
+++ b/scripts/projects.py
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ import datetime
 # devel: needs to be installed before this-devel can be installed, i.e. before _other_ packages can be built against this
 # run:   needs to be installed before this-run can be installed, i.e. before this and other packages can run with this
 
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------- Python 2 / 3 compatibility stuff
+try:
+    basestring
+except NameError:
+    basestring = str
+
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------- helpers
 
 class ResultCache(object):