diff --git a/tests/getch.py b/tests/getch.py
index 7175e337..a362e521 100755
--- a/tests/getch.py
+++ b/tests/getch.py
@@ -47,3 +47,4 @@ def main():
         main()
     finally:
         termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
+    sys.stdout.flush()
diff --git a/tests/interact.py b/tests/interact.py
index 2c1c1b78..a839e950 100755
--- a/tests/interact.py
+++ b/tests/interact.py
@@ -31,12 +31,21 @@
 
 
 def main():
-    p = pexpect.spawn(sys.executable + ' echo_w_prompt.py',
+    p = pexpect.spawn('{sys.executable} getch.py'.format(sys=sys),
                       env=no_coverage_env())
-    escape_character = chr(29)  # default matches api
-    if len(sys.argv) > 1 and sys.argv[1] == '--no-escape':
+
+    # defaults matches api
+    escape_character = chr(29)
+    encoding = None
+
+    if len(sys.argv) > 1 and '--no-escape' in sys.argv:
         escape_character = None
+
+    if len(sys.argv) > 1 and '--utf8' in sys.argv:
+        encoding = 'utf8'
+
     p.interact(escape_character=escape_character)
+
     print("Escaped interact")
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/tests/interact_unicode.py b/tests/interact_unicode.py
deleted file mode 100644
index f4c1f550..00000000
--- a/tests/interact_unicode.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-'''
-Just like interact.py, but using spawnu instead of spawn
-'''
-try:
-    # This allows coverage to measure code run in this process
-    import coverage
-    coverage.process_startup()
-except ImportError:
-    pass
-
-from utils import no_coverage_env
-import pexpect
-import sys
-
-
-def main():
-    p = pexpect.spawnu(sys.executable + ' echo_w_prompt.py',
-                       env=no_coverage_env())
-    p.interact()
-    print("Escaped interact")
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    main()
diff --git a/tests/test_interact.py b/tests/test_interact.py
index 86a5b7c1..865353b7 100755
--- a/tests/test_interact.py
+++ b/tests/test_interact.py
@@ -41,15 +41,12 @@ def setUp(self):
         else:
             env['PYTHONPATH'] = self.project_dir
 
-        self.interact_py = ' '.join((sys.executable,
-                                     'interact.py',))
-        self.interact_ucs_py = ' '.join((sys.executable,
-                                         'interact_unicode.py',))
+        self.interact_py = ('{sys.executable} interact.py'.format(sys=sys))
 
     def test_interact_escape(self):
         " Ensure `escape_character' value exits interactive mode. "
         p = pexpect.spawn(self.interact_py, timeout=5, env=self.env)
-        p.expect('<in >')
+        p.expect('READY')
         p.sendcontrol(']')  # chr(29), the default `escape_character'
                             # value of pexpect.interact().
         p.expect_exact('Escaped interact')
@@ -61,50 +58,39 @@ def test_interact_escape_None(self):
         " Return only after Termination when `escape_character=None'. "
         p = pexpect.spawn('{self.interact_py} --no-escape'.format(self=self),
                           timeout=5, env=self.env)
-        p.expect('<in >')
+        p.expect('READY')
         p.sendcontrol(']')
-        p.sendline('')
-        p.expect('<out>\x1d')
-        p.sendcontrol('d')
-        p.expect('<eof>')
-        p.expect_exact('Escaped interact')
-        p.expect(pexpect.EOF)
-        assert not p.isalive()
-        assert p.exitstatus == 0
-
-    def test_interact_spawn_eof(self):
-        " Ensure subprocess receives EOF and exit. "
-        p = pexpect.spawn(self.interact_py, timeout=5, env=self.env)
-        p.expect('<in >')
-        p.sendline(b'alpha')
-        p.sendline(b'beta')
-        p.expect(b'<out>alpha')
-        p.expect(b'<out>beta')
-        p.sendeof()
-        # strangely, on travis-ci, sendeof() terminates the subprocess,
-        # it doesn't receive ^D, just immediately throws EOF.
-        idx = p.expect_exact(['<eof>', pexpect.EOF])
-        if idx == 0:
+        p.expect('29<STOP>')
+        p.send('\x00')
+        if not os.environ.get('TRAVIS', None):
+            # on Travis-CI, we sometimes miss trailing stdout from the
+            # chain of child processes, not entirely sure why. So this
+            # is skipped on such systems.
+            p.expect('0<STOP>')
             p.expect_exact('Escaped interact')
-            p.expect(pexpect.EOF)
+        p.expect(pexpect.EOF)
         assert not p.isalive()
         assert p.exitstatus == 0
 
-    def test_interact_spawnu_eof(self):
-        " Ensure subprocess receives unicode, EOF, and exit. "
-        p = pexpect.spawnu(self.interact_ucs_py, timeout=5, env=self.env)
-        p.expect('<in >')
-        p.sendline('ɑlpha')
-        p.sendline('Βeta')
-        p.expect('<out>ɑlpha')
-        p.expect('<out>Βeta')
-        p.sendeof()
-        # strangely, on travis-ci, sendeof() terminates the subprocess,
-        # it doesn't receive ^D, just immediately throws EOF.
-        idx = p.expect_exact(['<eof>', pexpect.EOF])
-        if idx == 0:
+    def test_interact_exit_unicode(self):
+        " Ensure subprocess receives utf8. "
+        p = pexpect.spawnu('{self.interact_py} --utf8'.format(self=self),
+                           timeout=5, env=self.env)
+        p.expect('READY')
+        p.send('ɑ')              # >>> map(ord, u'ɑ'.encode('utf8'))
+        p.expect('201<STOP>')    # [201, 145]
+        p.expect('145<STOP>')
+        p.send('Β')              # >>> map(ord, u'Β'.encode('utf8'))
+        p.expect('206<STOP>')    # [206, 146]
+        p.expect('146<STOP>')
+        p.send('\x00')
+        if not os.environ.get('TRAVIS', None):
+            # on Travis-CI, we sometimes miss trailing stdout from the
+            # chain of child processes, not entirely sure why. So this
+            # is skipped on such systems.
+            p.expect('0<STOP>')
             p.expect_exact('Escaped interact')
-            p.expect(pexpect.EOF)
+        p.expect(pexpect.EOF)
         assert not p.isalive()
         assert p.exitstatus == 0