diff --git a/dvc/rwlock.py b/dvc/rwlock.py
index b05d255db..9da97fe4b 100644
--- a/dvc/rwlock.py
+++ b/dvc/rwlock.py
@@ -9,12 +9,7 @@ from funcy.py3 import lmap, lfilter, lmapcat
 
 from .exceptions import DvcException
 from .lock import LockError
-from .utils.compat import (
-    convert_to_unicode,
-    FileNotFoundError,
-    JSONDecodeError,
-    str,
-)
+from .utils.compat import FileNotFoundError, JSONDecodeError, str
 from .utils.fs import relpath
 
 INFO_SCHEMA = {"pid": int, "cmd": str}
@@ -44,7 +39,7 @@ def _edit_rwlock(lock_dir):
     try:
         with open(path, "r") as fobj:
             lock = json.load(fobj)
-        lock = SCHEMA(convert_to_unicode(lock))
+        lock = SCHEMA(lock)
     except FileNotFoundError:
         lock = SCHEMA({})
     except JSONDecodeError as exc:
diff --git a/dvc/stage.py b/dvc/stage.py
index 79127e261..a795a6852 100644
--- a/dvc/stage.py
+++ b/dvc/stage.py
@@ -421,10 +421,8 @@ class Stage(object):
 
     @staticmethod
     def validate(d, fname=None):
-        from dvc.utils.compat import convert_to_unicode
-
         try:
-            Stage.COMPILED_SCHEMA(convert_to_unicode(d))
+            Stage.COMPILED_SCHEMA(d)
         except MultipleInvalid as exc:
             raise StageFileFormatError(fname, exc)
 
diff --git a/dvc/utils/compat.py b/dvc/utils/compat.py
index 23fd141e9..00039b7fe 100644
--- a/dvc/utils/compat.py
+++ b/dvc/utils/compat.py
@@ -116,15 +116,6 @@ if is_py2:
         def __exit__(self, *args):
             self.close()
 
-    def convert_to_unicode(data):
-        if isinstance(data, builtin_str):
-            return str(data)
-        if isinstance(data, dict):
-            return dict(map(convert_to_unicode, data.items()))
-        if isinstance(data, (list, tuple)):
-            return type(data)(map(convert_to_unicode, data))
-        return data
-
 
 elif is_py3:
     import pathlib  # noqa: F401
@@ -152,9 +143,6 @@ elif is_py3:
     range = range  # noqa: F821
     FileNotFoundError = FileNotFoundError
 
-    def convert_to_unicode(data):
-        return data
-
 
 # Backport os.fspath() from Python 3.6
 try: