diff --git a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/zmq_driver/zmq_socket.py b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/zmq_driver/zmq_socket.py
index 11c567a51..1179e241b 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/zmq_driver/zmq_socket.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/zmq_driver/zmq_socket.py
@@ -143,7 +143,10 @@ class ZmqSocket(object):
             raise rpc_common.RPCException(errmsg)
 
     def connect_to_host(self, host):
-        address = zmq_address.get_tcp_direct_address(host)
+        address = zmq_address.get_tcp_direct_address(
+            host.decode('utf-8') if six.PY3 and
+            isinstance(host, six.binary_type) else host
+        )
         self.connect_to_address(address)
 
 
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 03f99e293..0bf53a3e3 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ commands = {toxinidir}/setup-test-env-qpid.sh 1.0 python setup.py testr --slowes
 [testenv:py27-func-zeromq]
 commands = {toxinidir}/setup-test-env-zmq.sh python setup.py testr --slowest --testr-args='{posargs:oslo_messaging.tests.functional}'
 
+[testenv:py34-func-zeromq]
+basepython = python3.4
+commands = {toxinidir}/setup-test-env-zmq.sh python setup.py testr --slowest --testr-args='{posargs:oslo_messaging.tests.functional}'
+
 [testenv:py27-func-zeromq-proxy]
 commands = {toxinidir}/setup-test-env-zmq-proxy.sh python setup.py testr --slowest --testr-args='oslo_messaging.tests.functional'