Index: Python/ceval.c
===================================================================
--- Python/ceval.c	(revision 62359)
+++ Python/ceval.c	(working copy)
@@ -2756,7 +2756,9 @@
 			PyObject *keyword = kws[2*i];
 			PyObject *value = kws[2*i + 1];
 			int j;
-			if (keyword == NULL || !PyString_Check(keyword)) {
+			if (keyword == NULL || 
+			    !PyString_Check(keyword) &&
+			    !PyUnicode_Check(keyword)) {
 				PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				    "%.200s() keywords must be strings",
 				    PyString_AsString(co->co_name));
Index: Python/getargs.c
===================================================================
--- Python/getargs.c	(revision 62359)
+++ Python/getargs.c	(working copy)
@@ -1473,7 +1473,7 @@
 		while (PyDict_Next(keywords, &pos, &key, &value)) {
 			int match = 0;
 			char *ks;
-			if (!PyString_Check(key)) {
+			if (!PyString_Check(key) && !PyUnicode_Check(key)) {
 				PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, 
 					        "keywords must be strings");
 				return cleanreturn(0, freelist);
Index: Lib/test/test_extcall.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_extcall.py	(revision 62359)
+++ Lib/test/test_extcall.py	(working copy)
@@ -52,6 +52,14 @@
     >>> f(1, 2, 3, x=4, y=5, *(6, 7), **UserDict(a=8, b=9))
     (1, 2, 3, 6, 7) {'a': 8, 'b': 9, 'x': 4, 'y': 5}
 
+Unicode keys in ** dict
+
+    >>> h(1, **{u'a':2, u'h':3})
+    1 2 3
+    >>> f(1, 2, 3, **{u'a':4, u'b':5})
+    (1, 2, 3) {u'a': 4, u'b': 5}
+
+
 Examples with invalid arguments (TypeErrors). We're also testing the function
 names in the exception messages.
 
@@ -62,6 +70,11 @@
       ...
     TypeError: e() got an unexpected keyword argument 'c'
 
+    >>> e(**{u'c':4})
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+      ...
+    TypeError: e() got an unexpected keyword argument 'c'
+
     >>> g()
     Traceback (most recent call last):
       ...
@@ -250,6 +263,15 @@
       ...
     TypeError: id() takes no keyword arguments
 
+Test passing unicode keys to C function
+
+    >>> from datetime import date
+    >>> date(1, 2, **{u'day': 3})
+    datetime.date(1, 2, 3)
+    >>> date(1, 2, **{u'day': 3, u'x': 4})
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+      ...       
+    TypeError: function takes at most 3 arguments (4 given)
 """
 
 from test import test_support