diff --git a/python-bindings/pythonbindings.cpp b/python-bindings/pythonbindings.cpp
index fcfd58daf..ed5f96ad6 100644
--- a/python-bindings/pythonbindings.cpp
+++ b/python-bindings/pythonbindings.cpp
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(blspy, m)
 
     py::class_<Util>(m, "Util").def("hash256", [](const py::bytes &message) {
         std::string str(message);
-        const uint8_t *input = reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t *>(str.data());
         uint8_t output[BLS::MESSAGE_HASH_LEN];
         {
             py::gil_scoped_release release;
diff --git a/python-bindings/test.py b/python-bindings/test.py
index 4daa923f3..eed20e409 100644
--- a/python-bindings/test.py
+++ b/python-bindings/test.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # flake8: noqa: E501
 import binascii
 import time
-from copy import deepcopy
 
 from blspy import (
     AugSchemeMPL,
@@ -10,7 +9,6 @@
     G2Element,
     PopSchemeMPL,
     PrivateKey,
-    Util,
 )
 
 
@@ -134,7 +132,7 @@ def test_vectors_invalid():
     for s in invalid_inputs_1:
         bytes_ = binascii.unhexlify(s)
         try:
-            g1 = G1Element(bytes_)
+            G1Element(bytes_)
             assert False, "Failed to disallow creation of G1 element."
         except Exception as e:
             pass
@@ -142,7 +140,7 @@ def test_vectors_invalid():
     for s in invalid_inputs_2:
         bytes_ = binascii.unhexlify(s)
         try:
-            g2 = G2Element(bytes_)
+            G2Element(bytes_)
             assert False, "Failed to disallow creation of G2 element."
         except Exception as e:
             pass
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 83767963f..f94de78b5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import platform
 import subprocess
 import sys
+from pathlib import Path
 from setuptools import Extension, setup
 from setuptools.command.build_ext import build_ext
 
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ def build_extension(self, ext):
     description="BLS signatures in c++ (python bindings)",
     python_requires=">=3.7",
     install_requires=["wheel"],
-    long_description=open("README.md").read(),
+    long_description=Path("README.md").read_text(),
     long_description_content_type="text/markdown",
     url="https://github.com/Chia-Network/bls-signatures",
     ext_modules=[CMakeExtension("blspy", ".")],