1 files changed, 5 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/rest_framework/renderers.py b/rest_framework/renderers.py
index d041dd4f..50531b14 100644
--- a/rest_framework/renderers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/renderers.py
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ import json
 from django import forms
 from django.http.multipartparser import parse_header
 from django.template import RequestContext, loader, Template
-from django.utils.encoding import force_unicode
 from django.utils.xmlutils import SimplerXMLGenerator
+from rest_framework.compat import StringIO
+from rest_framework.compat import six
+from rest_framework.compat import smart_text
 from rest_framework.compat import yaml
 from rest_framework.exceptions import ConfigurationError
 from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
@@ -23,9 +25,6 @@ from rest_framework.request import clone_request
 from rest_framework.utils import encoders
 from rest_framework.utils.breadcrumbs import get_breadcrumbs
 from rest_framework import exceptions, parsers, status, VERSION
-from rest_framework.compat import StringIO
-from rest_framework.compat import six
-from rest_framework.compat import smart_text
 
 
 class BaseRenderer(object):
@@ -440,13 +439,13 @@ class BrowsableAPIRenderer(BaseRenderer):
         try:
             return view.get_name()
         except AttributeError:
-            return force_unicode(view.__class__.__name__)
+            return smart_text(view.__class__.__name__)
 
     def get_description(self, view):
         try:
             return view.get_description(html=True)
         except AttributeError:
-            return force_unicode(view.__doc__)
+            return smart_text(view.__doc__ or '')
 
     def render(self, data, accepted_media_type=None, renderer_context=None):
         """