diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
index b787b5a9a057..25d7e04f3103 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
@@ -343,8 +343,9 @@ def checkdep_dvipng():
     try:
         s = subprocess.Popen(['dvipng','-version'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                              stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-        line = s.stdout.readlines()[1]
-        v = line.split()[-1].decode('ascii')
+        stdout, stderr = s.communicate()
+        line = stdout.decode('ascii').split('\n')[1]
+        v = line.split()[-1]
         return v
     except (IndexError, ValueError, OSError):
         return None
@@ -371,7 +372,8 @@ def checkdep_tex():
     try:
         s = subprocess.Popen(['tex','-version'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                              stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-        line = s.stdout.readlines()[0].decode('ascii')
+        stdout, stderr = s.communicate()
+        line = stdout.decode('ascii').split('\n')[0]
         pattern = '3\.1\d+'
         match = re.search(pattern, line)
         v = match.group(0)
@@ -383,9 +385,11 @@ def checkdep_pdftops():
     try:
         s = subprocess.Popen(['pdftops','-v'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                              stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-        for line in s.stderr:
-            if b'version' in line:
-                v = line.split()[-1].decode('ascii')
+        stdout, stderr = s.communicate()
+        lines = stderr.decode('ascii').split('\n')
+        for line in lines:
+            if 'version' in line:
+                v = line.split()[-1]
         return v
     except (IndexError, ValueError, UnboundLocalError, OSError):
         return None
@@ -394,9 +398,11 @@ def checkdep_inkscape():
     try:
         s = subprocess.Popen(['inkscape','-V'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                              stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-        for line in s.stdout:
-            if b'Inkscape' in line:
-                v = line.split()[1].decode('ascii')
+        stdout, stderr = s.communicate()
+        lines = stdout.decode('ascii').split('\n')
+        for line in lines:
+            if 'Inkscape' in line:
+                v = line.split()[1]
                 break
         return v
     except (IndexError, ValueError, UnboundLocalError, OSError):
@@ -406,9 +412,11 @@ def checkdep_xmllint():
     try:
         s = subprocess.Popen(['xmllint','--version'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                              stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-        for line in s.stderr:
-            if b'version' in line:
-                v = line.split()[-1].decode('ascii')
+        stdout, stderr = s.communicate()
+        lines = stderr.decode('ascii').split('\n')
+        for line in lines:
+            if 'version' in line:
+                v = line.split()[-1]
                 break
         return v
     except (IndexError, ValueError, UnboundLocalError, OSError):
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
index 066cb00e1092..eaebf15bf4ae 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
@@ -90,12 +90,13 @@ def gs_version(self):
             pass
 
         from matplotlib.compat.subprocess import Popen, PIPE
-        pipe = Popen(self.gs_exe + " --version",
-                     shell=True, stdout=PIPE).stdout
+        s = Popen(self.gs_exe + " --version",
+                     shell=True, stdout=PIPE)
+        pipe, stderr = s.communicate()
         if six.PY3:
-            ver = pipe.read().decode('ascii')
+            ver = pipe.decode('ascii')
         else:
-            ver = pipe.read()
+            ver = pipe
         gs_version = tuple(map(int, ver.strip().split(".")))
 
         self._cached["gs_version"] = gs_version
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py
index 1b6aac6e37e5..93aca46e28c1 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_ps.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ def _test_savefig_to_stringio(format='ps'):
 
     assert values[0] == values[1]
     assert values[1] == values[2].replace(b'\r\n', b'\n')
+    for buffer in buffers:
+        buffer.close()
 
 
 @cleanup
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py b/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
index 51758fe6851e..8ff931a0d410 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
@@ -70,16 +70,16 @@ def dvipng_hack_alpha():
     try:
         p = Popen(['dvipng', '-version'], stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE,
                   stderr=STDOUT, close_fds=(sys.platform != 'win32'))
+        stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
     except OSError:
         mpl.verbose.report('No dvipng was found', 'helpful')
         return False
-    stdin, stdout = p.stdin, p.stdout
-    for line in stdout:
-        if line.startswith(b'dvipng '):
+    lines = stdout.decode('ascii').split('\n')
+    for line in lines:
+        if line.startswith('dvipng '):
             version = line.split()[-1]
             mpl.verbose.report('Found dvipng version %s' % version,
                                'helpful')
-            version = version.decode('ascii')
             version = distutils.version.LooseVersion(version)
             return version < distutils.version.LooseVersion('1.6')
     mpl.verbose.report('Unexpected response from dvipng -version', 'helpful')