Converts a string argument to a unicode string.

    If the argument is already a unicode string or None, it is returned
    unchanged.  Otherwise it must be a byte string and is decoded as utf8.

def _unicode(value):
    """Converts a string argument to a unicode string.

    If the argument is already a unicode string or None, it is returned
    unchanged.  Otherwise it must be a byte string and is decoded as utf8.
    """
    if isinstance(value, _TO_UNICODE_TYPES):
        return value
    if not isinstance(value, bytes_type):
        raise TypeError(
            "Expected bytes, unicode, or None; got %r" % type(value)
        )
    return value.decode("utf-8")