1 files changed, 8 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/coverage/backward.py b/coverage/backward.py
index 720cd3e1..0df2a41e 100644
--- a/coverage/backward.py
+++ b/coverage/backward.py
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ if env.PY3:
         """Convert string `s` to bytes."""
         return s.encode('utf8')
 
+    def to_string(b):
+        """Convert bytes `b` to string."""
+        return b.decode('utf8')
+
     def binary_bytes(byte_values):
         """Produce a byte string with the ints from `byte_values`."""
         return bytes(byte_values)
@@ -120,6 +124,10 @@ else:
         """Convert string `s` to bytes (no-op in 2.x)."""
         return s
 
+    def to_string(b):
+        """Convert bytes `b` to string."""
+        return b
+
     def binary_bytes(byte_values):
         """Produce a byte string with the ints from `byte_values`."""
         return "".join(chr(b) for b in byte_values)