diff --git a/scripts/supybot-plugin-doc b/scripts/supybot-plugin-doc
index 4d43ad415..3903ff8ff 100644
--- a/scripts/supybot-plugin-doc
+++ b/scripts/supybot-plugin-doc
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ import shutil
 
 import supybot
 
+if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
+    basestring = str
+
 def error(s):
     sys.stderr.write('%s\n' % s)
     sys.exit(-1)