diff -r 4a48450f2505 Lib/platform.py
--- a/Lib/platform.py	Sat Jun 14 20:41:22 2014 -0700
+++ b/Lib/platform.py	Sun Jun 15 13:20:44 2014 -0400
@@ -845,11 +845,11 @@
         # XXX Others too ?
         return default
     try:
-        f = os.popen('uname %s 2> %s' % (option, DEV_NULL))
+        proc = subprocess.popen(['uname', option], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
     except (AttributeError, OSError):
         return default
-    output = f.read().strip()
-    rc = f.close()
+    output = proc.communicate()[0].decode('latin1')
+    rc = proc.wait()
     if not output or rc:
         return default
     else: