--- numpy/core/src/multiarray/scalarapi.c.orig	2012-05-19 15:51:54.000000000 +0200
+++ numpy/core/src/multiarray/scalarapi.c	2012-08-05 14:57:02.068276634 +0200
@@ -652,6 +652,35 @@
             itemsize = (((itemsize - 1) >> 2) + 1) << 2;
         }
     }
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03030000
+    if (type_num == NPY_UNICODE) {
+        PyObject *u, *args;
+        int byteorder;
+
+#if NPY_BYTE_ORDER == NPY_LITTLE_ENDIAN
+        byteorder = -1;
+#elif NPY_BYTE_ORDER == NPY_BIG_ENDIAN
+        byteorder = +1;
+#else
+        #error Endianness undefined ?
+#endif
+        if (swap) byteorder *= -1;
+
+        u = PyUnicode_DecodeUTF32(data, itemsize, NULL, &byteorder);
+        if (u == NULL) {
+            return NULL;
+        }
+        args = Py_BuildValue("(O)", u);
+        if (args == NULL) {
+            Py_DECREF(u);
+            return NULL;
+        }
+        obj = type->tp_new(type, args, NULL);
+        Py_DECREF(u);
+        Py_DECREF(args);
+        return obj;
+    }
+#endif
     if (type->tp_itemsize != 0) {
         /* String type */
         obj = type->tp_alloc(type, itemsize);
@@ -688,6 +717,7 @@
             memcpy(destptr, data, itemsize);
             return obj;
         }
+#if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03030000
         else if (type_num == PyArray_UNICODE) {
             /* tp_alloc inherited from Python PyBaseObject_Type */
             PyUnicodeObject *uni = (PyUnicodeObject*)obj;
@@ -759,6 +789,7 @@
 #endif
             return obj;
         }
+#endif /* PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03030000 */
         else {
             PyVoidScalarObject *vobj = (PyVoidScalarObject *)obj;
             vobj->base = NULL;