Python 3.3 compiled in debug mode dumps the total number of references at exit into stderr. Something like:

$ python3.3-dbg -X showrefcount -c pass
[18563 refs, 6496 blocks]

In Python 3.4, bpo-17323 disabled this feature by default and added -X showrefcount command line option:

commit 1f8898a5916b942c86ee8716c37d2db388e7bf2f
Author: Ezio Melotti <ezio.melotti@gmail.com>
Date:   Tue Mar 26 01:59:56 2013 +0200

    #17323: The "[X refs, Y blocks]" printed by debug builds has been disabled by default.  It can be re-enabled with the `-X showrefcount` option.

test.support module still has strip_python_stderr() function to remove "[18563 refs, 6496 blocks]" from stderr, but it's now useless.

Attached PR removes the function. The PR also avoids calling str.strip().