diff --git a/ietf/bin/report_id_activity b/ietf/bin/report_id_activity
index 6f223b27e..87b7f7fe5 100755
--- a/ietf/bin/report_id_activity
+++ b/ietf/bin/report_id_activity
@@ -3,21 +3,20 @@
 # -*- Python -*-
 #
 
+# This script requires that the proper virtual python environment has been
+# invoked before start
+
 # Set PYTHONPATH and load environment variables for standalone script -----------------
 import os, sys
 basedir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../.."))
 sys.path = [ basedir ] + sys.path
 os.environ["DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE"] = "ietf.settings"
 
-virtualenv_activation = os.path.join(basedir, "env", "bin", "activate_this.py")
-if os.path.exists(virtualenv_activation):
-    execfile(virtualenv_activation, dict(__file__=virtualenv_activation))
-
 import django
 django.setup()
 # -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 from ietf.secr.drafts.reports import report_id_activity
 
-print report_id_activity(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]),
+print(report_id_activity(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]), end='')
 
diff --git a/ietf/bin/report_progress_report b/ietf/bin/report_progress_report
index 9f537907f..b693aca77 100755
--- a/ietf/bin/report_progress_report
+++ b/ietf/bin/report_progress_report
@@ -3,16 +3,15 @@
 # -*- Python -*-
 #
 
+# This script requires that the proper virtual python environment has been
+# invoked before start
+
 # Set PYTHONPATH and load environment variables for standalone script -----------------
 import os, sys
 basedir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../.."))
 sys.path = [ basedir ] + sys.path
 os.environ["DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE"] = "ietf.settings"
 
-virtualenv_activation = os.path.join(basedir, "env", "bin", "activate_this.py")
-if os.path.exists(virtualenv_activation):
-    execfile(virtualenv_activation, dict(__file__=virtualenv_activation))
-
 import django
 django.setup()
 # -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -21,6 +20,5 @@ from ietf.secr.drafts.reports import report_progress_report
 
 # handle unicode characters before attempting to print
 output = report_progress_report(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2])
-output = output.replace(unichr(160),' ')     # replace NO-BREAK SPACE with space
-output = output.encode('ascii','replace')
-print output,
+output = output.replace(chr(160),' ')     # replace NO-BREAK SPACE with space
+print(output, end='')