diff --git a/mwparserfromhell/compat.py b/mwparserfromhell/compat.py
index bb81513..864605c 100644
--- a/mwparserfromhell/compat.py
+++ b/mwparserfromhell/compat.py
@@ -15,14 +15,12 @@ py3k = sys.version_info[0] == 3
 if py3k:
     bytes = bytes
     str = str
-    basestring = str
     maxsize = sys.maxsize
     import html.entities as htmlentities
 
 else:
     bytes = str
     str = unicode
-    basestring = basestring
     maxsize = sys.maxint
     import htmlentitydefs as htmlentities
 
diff --git a/mwparserfromhell/nodes/extras/attribute.py b/mwparserfromhell/nodes/extras/attribute.py
index ad282af..05860a0 100644
--- a/mwparserfromhell/nodes/extras/attribute.py
+++ b/mwparserfromhell/nodes/extras/attribute.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class Attribute(StringMixIn):
 
     def __unicode__(self):
         base = self.pad_first + str(self.name) + self.pad_before_eq
-        if self.value:
+        if self.value is not None:
             if self.quoted:
                 return base + '="' + self.pad_after_eq + str(self.value) + '"'
             return base + "=" + self.pad_after_eq + str(self.value)
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class Attribute(StringMixIn):
 
     @value.setter
     def value(self, newval):
-        self._value = parse_anything(newval)
+        self._value = None if newval is None else parse_anything(newval)
 
     @quoted.setter
     def quoted(self, value):
diff --git a/mwparserfromhell/nodes/template.py b/mwparserfromhell/nodes/template.py
index c326b65..a6b1665 100644
--- a/mwparserfromhell/nodes/template.py
+++ b/mwparserfromhell/nodes/template.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import re
 
 from . import HTMLEntity, Node, Text
 from .extras import Parameter
-from ..compat import basestring, str
+from ..compat import str
 from ..utils import parse_anything
 
 __all__ = ["Template"]
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class Template(Node):
         replacement = str(HTMLEntity(value=ord(char)))
         for node in code.filter_text(recursive=False):
             if char in node:
-                code.replace(node, node.replace(char, replacement))
+                code.replace(node, node.replace(char, replacement), False)
 
     def _blank_param_value(self, value):
         """Remove the content from *value* while keeping its whitespace.
@@ -170,9 +170,9 @@ class Template(Node):
         With *ignore_empty*, ``False`` will be returned even if the template
         contains a parameter with the name *name*, if the parameter's value
         is empty. Note that a template may have multiple parameters with the
-        same name.
+        same name, but only the last one is read by the MediaWiki parser.
         """
-        name = name.strip() if isinstance(name, basestring) else str(name)
+        name = str(name).strip()
         for param in self.params:
             if param.name.strip() == name:
                 if ignore_empty and not param.value.strip():
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ class Template(Node):
         parameters can have the same name, we'll return the last match, since
         the last parameter is the only one read by the MediaWiki parser.
         """
-        name = name.strip() if isinstance(name, basestring) else str(name)
+        name = str(name).strip()
         for param in reversed(self.params):
             if param.name.strip() == name:
                 return param
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ class Template(Node):
         the first instance if none have dependents, otherwise the one with
         dependents will be kept).
         """
-        name = name.strip() if isinstance(name, basestring) else str(name)
+        name = str(name).strip()
         removed = False
         to_remove = []
         for i, param in enumerate(self.params):
diff --git a/mwparserfromhell/parser/tokens.py b/mwparserfromhell/parser/tokens.py
index 8c2ea87..0ffac86 100644
--- a/mwparserfromhell/parser/tokens.py
+++ b/mwparserfromhell/parser/tokens.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ into the :py:class`~.Wikicode` tree by the :py:class:`~.Builder`.
 
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-from ..compat import basestring, py3k
+from ..compat import py3k, str
 
 __all__ = ["Token"]
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Token(object):
     def __repr__(self):
         args = []
         for key, value in self._kwargs.items():
-            if isinstance(value, basestring) and len(value) > 100:
+            if isinstance(value, str) and len(value) > 100:
                 args.append(key + "=" + repr(value[:97] + "..."))
             else:
                 args.append(key + "=" + repr(value))
diff --git a/tests/test_attribute.py b/tests/test_attribute.py
index 8dd84cb..dbf3145 100644
--- a/tests/test_attribute.py
+++ b/tests/test_attribute.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ class TestAttribute(TreeEqualityTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(' foo="bar"', str(node2))
         node3 = Attribute(wraptext("a"), wraptext("b"), False, "", " ", "   ")
         self.assertEqual("a =   b", str(node3))
+        node4 = Attribute(wraptext("a"), wrap([]), False, " ", "", " ")
+        self.assertEqual(" a= ", str(node4))
 
     def test_name(self):
         """test getter/setter for the name attribute"""
@@ -56,6 +58,8 @@ class TestAttribute(TreeEqualityTestCase):
         self.assertIs(value, node.value)
         node.value = "{{bar}}"
         self.assertWikicodeEqual(wrap([Template(wraptext("bar"))]), node.value)
+        node.value = None
+        self.assertIs(None, node.value)
 
     def test_quoted(self):
         """test getter/setter for the quoted attribute"""