diff --git a/streamz/dataframe/core.py b/streamz/dataframe/core.py
index c0fb9a82..b8791b81 100644
--- a/streamz/dataframe/core.py
+++ b/streamz/dataframe/core.py
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ def __dir__(self):
         o = set(dir(type(self)))
         o.update(self.__dict__)
         o.update(c for c in self.columns
-                 if (isinstance(c, pd.compat.string_types) and pd.compat.isidentifier(c)))
+                 if (isinstance(c, str) and c.isidentifier()))
         return list(o)
 
     def assign(self, **kwargs):
diff --git a/streamz/dataframe/tests/test_dataframes.py b/streamz/dataframe/tests/test_dataframes.py
index 649e9064..67a04ec5 100644
--- a/streamz/dataframe/tests/test_dataframes.py
+++ b/streamz/dataframe/tests/test_dataframes.py
@@ -1007,3 +1007,10 @@ def test_windowed_groupby_aggs_with_start_state(stream):
     stream.emit(df)
     out_df1 = pd.DataFrame({'name':['Alice', 'Bob', 'Linda', 'Tom'], 'amount':[50.0, 550.0, 100.0, 150.0]})
     assert_eq(output1[-1][1].reset_index(), out_df1)
+
+    
+def test_dir(stream):
+    example = pd.DataFrame({'name': [], 'amount': []})
+    sdf = DataFrame(stream, example=example)
+    assert 'name' in dir(sdf)
+    assert 'amount' in dir(sdf)