Index: Python/pythonrun.c
===================================================================
--- Python/pythonrun.c	(revision 67040)
+++ Python/pythonrun.c	(working copy)
@@ -1284,7 +1284,15 @@
 {
 	PyObject *ret = NULL;
 	mod_ty mod;
-	PyArena *arena = PyArena_New();
+	PyArena *arena;
+        if (flags == NULL) {
+            flags = PyMem_MALLOC(sizeof(PyCompilerFlags));
+            if (flags == NULL) {
+                PyErr_NoMemory();
+                return NULL;
+            }
+        }
+        arena = PyArena_New();
 	if (arena == NULL)
 		return NULL;
 	
Index: Lib/test/test_future.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_future.py	(revision 67040)
+++ Lib/test/test_future.py	(working copy)
@@ -106,7 +106,12 @@
         test_support.unload("test.test_future5")
         from test import test_future5
 
+    def test_unicode_literals_exec(self):
+        scope = {}
+        exec "from __future__ import unicode_literals; x = ''" in scope
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(scope["x"], unicode))
 
+
 def test_main():
     test_support.run_unittest(FutureTest)