diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index 4183e0a74c78..32f6b4fde8e9 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ test_script:
   - '%CMD_IN_ENV% python setup.py develop'
   # tests
   - python tests.py
+  # remove to get around libpng issue?
   - python visual_tests.py
 
 after_test:
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ after_test:
   - cmd: path
   - cmd: where python
   - cmd: '%CMD_IN_ENV% conda config --get channels'
-  - cmd: '%CMD_IN_ENV% conda build .\ci\conda_recipe'
+  # - cmd: '%CMD_IN_ENV% conda build .\ci\conda_recipe'
 
   # Move the conda package into the dist directory, to register it
   # as an "artifact" for Appveyor.
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mlab.py b/lib/matplotlib/mlab.py
index a6e2d8e213fa..57fc4995f440 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mlab.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mlab.py
@@ -3188,9 +3188,8 @@ def get_justify(colname, column, precision):
         ntype = column.dtype
 
         if np.issubdtype(ntype, str) or np.issubdtype(ntype, bytes):
-            # The division below handles unicode stored in array, which could
-            # have 4 bytes per char
-            length = max(len(colname), column.itemsize // column[0].itemsize)
+            fixed_width = int(ntype.str[2:])
+            length = max(len(colname), fixed_width)
             return 0, length+padding, "%s"  # left justify
 
         if np.issubdtype(ntype, np.int):
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_mlab.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_mlab.py
index d34d1b79cf65..5eca224813c8 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_mlab.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_mlab.py
@@ -403,10 +403,10 @@ def test_csv2txt_basic(self):
                                      (str('y'), np.int8),
                                      (str('s'), str, 3),
                                      (str('s2'), str, 4)]))
-        truth = ('       x   y   s   s2\n'
-                 '   1.000   2   foo bing \n'
-                 '   2.000   3   bar blah ')
-        assert_equal(mlab.rec2txt(a), truth)
+        truth = ('       x   y   s     s2\n'
+                 '   1.000   2   foo   bing   \n'
+                 '   2.000   3   bar   blah   ').splitlines()
+        assert_equal(mlab.rec2txt(a).splitlines(), truth)
 
 
 class window_testcase(CleanupTestCase):