diff --git a/dvc/analytics.py b/dvc/analytics.py
index d658c9191..7939ba5c3 100644
--- a/dvc/analytics.py
+++ b/dvc/analytics.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from dvc.lock import Lock, LockError
 from dvc.repo import Repo
 from dvc.scm import SCM
 from dvc.utils import env2bool, is_binary, makedirs
-from dvc.utils.compat import str, FileNotFoundError
+from dvc.utils.compat import str, FileNotFoundError, fspath_py35
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def send(path):
     url = "https://analytics.dvc.org"
     headers = {"content-type": "application/json"}
 
-    with open(str(path)) as fobj:
+    with open(fspath_py35(path)) as fobj:
         requests.post(url, data=fobj, headers=headers, timeout=5)
 
 
diff --git a/dvc/config.py b/dvc/config.py
index 76de6cf84..32c7a0977 100644
--- a/dvc/config.py
+++ b/dvc/config.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from voluptuous import All, Any, Lower, Range, Coerce, Match
 
 from dvc.exceptions import DvcException
 from dvc.exceptions import NotDvcRepoError
-from dvc.utils.compat import open, str, pathlib
+from dvc.utils.compat import open, str, pathlib, fspath
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -342,8 +342,8 @@ class Config(object):  # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-attributes
         return ret
 
     def _load_configs(self):
-        system_config_file = str(self.get_system_config_dir() / self.CONFIG)
-        global_config_file = str(self.get_global_config_dir() / self.CONFIG)
+        system_config_file = fspath(self.get_system_config_dir() / self.CONFIG)
+        global_config_file = fspath(self.get_global_config_dir() / self.CONFIG)
 
         self._system_config = configobj.ConfigObj(system_config_file)
         self._global_config = configobj.ConfigObj(global_config_file)
diff --git a/dvc/lock.py b/dvc/lock.py
index 7ffe54fc3..1f3df8ebb 100644
--- a/dvc/lock.py
+++ b/dvc/lock.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from funcy.py3 import lkeep
 
 from dvc.exceptions import DvcException
 from dvc.utils import makedirs
-from dvc.utils.compat import is_py3, str
+from dvc.utils.compat import is_py3, str, fspath
 
 
 DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 5
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ if is_py3:
             # [1] https://github.com/iterative/dvc/issues/2582
             self._hostname = socket.gethostname()
 
-            self._lockfile = str(lockfile)
+            self._lockfile = fspath(lockfile)
             self._lifetime = timedelta(days=365)  # Lock for good by default
             self._separator = flufl.lock.SEP
             self._set_claimfile()
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ else:
         """
 
         def __init__(self, lockfile, tmp_dir=None):
-            self.lockfile = str(lockfile)
+            self.lockfile = fspath(lockfile)
             self._lock = None
 
         @property
diff --git a/tests/func/test_analytics.py b/tests/func/test_analytics.py
index bd698703d..97a71d6d0 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_analytics.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_analytics.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import mock
 import json
 
 from dvc.main import main
-from dvc.utils.compat import str
+from dvc.utils.compat import fspath
 
 
 @mock.patch("dvc.analytics.send")
@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ def test_daemon_analytics(mock_send, tmp_path):
     fname = tmp_path / "report"
     fname.write_text(str(json.dumps(report)))
 
-    assert 0 == main(["daemon", "analytics", str(fname)])
+    assert 0 == main(["daemon", "analytics", fspath(fname)])
     assert mock_send.called