diff --git a/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/save_all_dependencies_resolution_variables.sh b/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/save_all_dependencies_resolution_variables.sh
index 21a892a786..d2eb59313f 100755
--- a/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/save_all_dependencies_resolution_variables.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/save_all_dependencies_resolution_variables.sh
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ main() {
     local output_dir
 
     # No 'realpath' in mac by default…
-    output_dir=$(python -c 'import os.path; print(os.path.abspath("'"$1"'"))')
+    output_dir=$(python3 -c 'import os.path; print(os.path.abspath("'"$1"'"))')
 
     for app in $(applications)
     do
diff --git a/dist/tools/compile_test/compile_test.py b/dist/tools/compile_test/compile_test.py
index ef3c28759c..201210d17e 100755
--- a/dist/tools/compile_test/compile_test.py
+++ b/dist/tools/compile_test/compile_test.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 # Copyright (C) 2014  René Kijewski  <rene.kijewski@fu-berlin.de>
@@ -19,22 +19,13 @@
 # License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 
-from __future__ import print_function
-
 from collections import defaultdict
 from itertools import groupby
 from os import devnull, environ
 from os.path import abspath, dirname, isfile, join
 from subprocess import CalledProcessError, check_call, check_output, PIPE, Popen
 from sys import argv, exit, stdout
-
-
-try:
-    # Python 2.x
-    from StringIO import StringIO
-except ImportError:
-    # Python 3.x
-    from io import StringIO
+from io import StringIO
 from itertools import tee
 
 
diff --git a/dist/tools/esptool/gen_esp32part.py b/dist/tools/esptool/gen_esp32part.py
index 5f9cfd7740..9520b6abea 100755
--- a/dist/tools/esptool/gen_esp32part.py
+++ b/dist/tools/esptool/gen_esp32part.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
 # ESP32 partition table generation tool
 #
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-from __future__ import print_function, division
 import argparse
 import os
 import re
diff --git a/dist/tools/pyterm/setup.py b/dist/tools/pyterm/setup.py
index f9b9825858..ebdda9e08e 100755
--- a/dist/tools/pyterm/setup.py
+++ b/dist/tools/pyterm/setup.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 
 try:
     from setuptools import setup