diff --git a/searx/templates/courgette/404.html b/searx/templates/courgette/404.html
index 9e3b8ac2..7a317f02 100644
--- a/searx/templates/courgette/404.html
+++ b/searx/templates/courgette/404.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
{{ _('Page not found') }}
{% autoescape false %}
-
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page=unicode('{}').format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
+
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page='{}'.format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
{% endautoescape %}
{% endblock %}
diff --git a/searx/templates/legacy/404.html b/searx/templates/legacy/404.html
index 3e889dd2..c0fa62b0 100644
--- a/searx/templates/legacy/404.html
+++ b/searx/templates/legacy/404.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
{{ _('Page not found') }}
{% autoescape false %}
-
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page=unicode('{}').format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
+
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page='{}'.format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
{% endautoescape %}
{% endblock %}
diff --git a/searx/templates/oscar/404.html b/searx/templates/oscar/404.html
index 5a50880a..cdb31db7 100644
--- a/searx/templates/oscar/404.html
+++ b/searx/templates/oscar/404.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
{{ _('Page not found') }}
{% autoescape false %}
-
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page=unicode('{}').format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
+
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page='{}'.format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
{% endautoescape %}
{% endblock %}
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/404.html b/searx/templates/simple/404.html
index 11d60431..1a10514c 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/404.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/404.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
{{ _('Page not found') }}
{% autoescape false %}
-
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page=unicode('{}').format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
+
{{ _('Go to %(search_page)s.', search_page='{}'.format(url_for('index'), _('search page'))) }}
{% endautoescape %}
{% endblock %}
diff --git a/searx/webapp.py b/searx/webapp.py
index 6bc132e1..ec296825 100755
--- a/searx/webapp.py
+++ b/searx/webapp.py
@@ -408,8 +408,6 @@ def render(template_name, override_theme=None, **kwargs):
kwargs['results_on_new_tab'] = request.preferences.get_value('results_on_new_tab')
- kwargs['unicode'] = str
-
kwargs['preferences'] = request.preferences
kwargs['brand'] = brand