diff --git a/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/utils.py b/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/utils.py
index 3a7dc4035ca..80912e47acb 100644
--- a/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/utils.py
+++ b/bin/report/render/rml2pdf/utils.py
@@ -40,18 +40,16 @@ import re
 import reportlab
 from lxml import etree
 import copy
-import tools
 import locale
-import netsvc
 import traceback, sys
 
 _regex = re.compile('\[\[(.+?)\]\]')
 
 def str2xml(s):
-    return s.replace('&', '&amp;').replace('<', '&lt;').replace('>', '&gt;')
+    return (s or '').replace('&', '&amp;').replace('<', '&lt;').replace('>', '&gt;')
 
 def xml2str(s):
-    return s.replace('&amp;','&').replace('&lt;','<').replace('&gt;','>')
+    return (s or '').replace('&amp;','&').replace('&lt;','<').replace('&gt;','>')
 
 def _child_get(node, self=None, tagname=None):
     for n in node:
@@ -106,25 +104,24 @@ def _process_text(self, txt):
         sps = _regex.split(txt)
         while sps:
             # This is a simple text to translate
-            result += tools.ustr(self.localcontext.get('translate', lambda x:x)(sps.pop(0)))
+            result += unicode(self.localcontext.get('translate', lambda x:x)(sps.pop(0)))
             if sps:
                 try:
                     expr = sps.pop(0)
                     txt = eval(expr,self.localcontext)
                     if txt and (isinstance(txt, unicode) or isinstance(txt, str)):
-                        txt = tools.ustr(self.localcontext.get('translate', lambda x:x)(txt))
+                        txt = unicode(self.localcontext.get('translate', lambda x:x)(txt))
                 except Exception,e:
                     tb_s = reduce(lambda x, y: x+y, traceback.format_exception(sys.exc_type, sys.exc_value, sys.exc_traceback))
-                    netsvc.Logger().notifyChannel('report', netsvc.LOG_ERROR,'report :\n%s\n%s\nexpr: %s' % (tb_s, str(e),expr.encode('utf-8')))
                 if type(txt)==type('') or type(txt)==type(u''):
                     txt2 = str2xml(txt)
-                    result += tools.ustr(txt2)
+                    result += unicode(txt2)
                 elif (txt is not None) and (txt is not False):
-                    result += tools.ustr(txt)
+                    result += unicode(txt)
         return result
 
 def text_get(node):
-    return ''.join([tools.ustr(n.text) for n in node])
+    return ''.join([unicode(n.text) for n in node])
 
 units = [
     (re.compile('^(-?[0-9\.]+)\s*in$'), reportlab.lib.units.inch),