diff --git a/numcodecs/compat.py b/numcodecs/compat.py
index f3b6e95c..82528a7a 100644
--- a/numcodecs/compat.py
+++ b/numcodecs/compat.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 if PY2:  # pragma: py3 no cover
 
+    buffer = buffer
     text_type = unicode
     binary_type = str
     integer_types = (int, long)
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@
 
 else:  # pragma: py2 no cover
 
+    buffer = memoryview
     text_type = str
     binary_type = bytes
     integer_types = int,
@@ -33,10 +35,10 @@ def buffer_tobytes(v):
         return v
     elif isinstance(v, np.ndarray):
         return v.tobytes(order='A')
-    elif PY2 and isinstance(v, array.array):  # pragma: py3 no cover
-        return v.tostring()
-    else:
-        return memoryview(v).tobytes()
+    elif PY2:  # pragma: py3 no cover
+        v = buffer(v)
+
+    return memoryview(v).tobytes()
 
 
 def buffer_copy(buf, out=None):
diff --git a/numcodecs/gzip.py b/numcodecs/gzip.py
index 802d9fcd..c6bb1af6 100644
--- a/numcodecs/gzip.py
+++ b/numcodecs/gzip.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 
 from .abc import Codec
-from .compat import buffer_copy, handle_datetime, buffer_tobytes, PY2
+from .compat import buffer, buffer_copy, handle_datetime, PY2
 
 
 class GZip(Codec):
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ def encode(self, buf):
                 buf = buf.tobytes(order='A')
 
         if PY2:  # pragma: py3 no cover
-            # ensure bytes, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
-            buf = buffer_tobytes(buf)
+            # ensure buffer, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
+            buf = buffer(buf)
 
         # do compression
         compressed = io.BytesIO()
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ def encode(self, buf):
     def decode(self, buf, out=None):
 
         if PY2:  # pragma: py3 no cover
-            # ensure bytes, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
-            buf = buffer_tobytes(buf)
+            # ensure buffer, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
+            buf = buffer(buf)
 
         # do decompression
         buf = io.BytesIO(buf)
diff --git a/numcodecs/zlib.py b/numcodecs/zlib.py
index 0ab68d98..dfa29f02 100644
--- a/numcodecs/zlib.py
+++ b/numcodecs/zlib.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 
 from .abc import Codec
-from .compat import buffer_copy, handle_datetime, buffer_tobytes, PY2
+from .compat import buffer, buffer_copy, handle_datetime, PY2
 
 
 class Zlib(Codec):
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ def encode(self, buf):
                 buf = buf.tobytes(order='A')
 
         if PY2:  # pragma: py3 no cover
-            # ensure bytes, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
-            buf = buffer_tobytes(buf)
+            # ensure buffer, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
+            buf = buffer(buf)
 
         # do compression
         return _zlib.compress(buf, self.level)
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ def encode(self, buf):
     def decode(self, buf, out=None):
 
         if PY2:  # pragma: py3 no cover
-            # ensure bytes, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
-            buf = buffer_tobytes(buf)
+            # ensure buffer, PY2 cannot handle things like bytearray
+            buf = buffer(buf)
 
         # do decompression
         dec = _zlib.decompress(buf)