diff --git a/pdfminer/pdfdocument.py b/pdfminer/pdfdocument.py
index f8ac79d..964610f 100644
--- a/pdfminer/pdfdocument.py
+++ b/pdfminer/pdfdocument.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from .psparser import PSEOF
 from .psparser import literal_name
 from .psparser import LIT
 from .psparser import KWD
-from .psparser import STRICT
+from .settings import STRICT
 from .pdftypes import PDFException
 from .pdftypes import PDFTypeError
 from .pdftypes import PDFStream
diff --git a/pdfminer/pdffont.py b/pdfminer/pdffont.py
index b2a9df8..8196a33 100644
--- a/pdfminer/pdffont.py
+++ b/pdfminer/pdffont.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from .psparser import PSStackParser
 from .psparser import PSEOF
 from .psparser import LIT
 from .psparser import KWD
-from .psparser import STRICT
+from .settings import STRICT
 from .psparser import PSLiteral
 from .psparser import literal_name
 from .pdftypes import PDFException
diff --git a/pdfminer/pdfinterp.py b/pdfminer/pdfinterp.py
index 65bf8b4..80d57ea 100644
--- a/pdfminer/pdfinterp.py
+++ b/pdfminer/pdfinterp.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from .psparser import keyword_name
 from .psparser import PSStackParser
 from .psparser import LIT
 from .psparser import KWD
-from .psparser import STRICT
+from .settings import STRICT
 from .pdftypes import PDFException
 from .pdftypes import PDFStream
 from .pdftypes import PDFObjRef
diff --git a/pdfminer/pdfparser.py b/pdfminer/pdfparser.py
index 7407ade..8e1934e 100644
--- a/pdfminer/pdfparser.py
+++ b/pdfminer/pdfparser.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from .psparser import PSStackParser
 from .psparser import PSSyntaxError
 from .psparser import PSEOF
 from .psparser import KWD
-from .psparser import STRICT
+from .settings import STRICT
 from .pdftypes import PDFException
 from .pdftypes import PDFStream
 from .pdftypes import PDFObjRef
diff --git a/pdfminer/pdftypes.py b/pdfminer/pdftypes.py
index 64d84bb..834675e 100644
--- a/pdfminer/pdftypes.py
+++ b/pdfminer/pdftypes.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from .ccitt import ccittfaxdecode
 from .psparser import PSException
 from .psparser import PSObject
 from .psparser import LIT
-from .psparser import STRICT
+from .settings import STRICT
 from .utils import apply_png_predictor
 from .utils import isnumber
 
diff --git a/pdfminer/psparser.py b/pdfminer/psparser.py
index b1fc6ac..dff3e04 100644
--- a/pdfminer/psparser.py
+++ b/pdfminer/psparser.py
@@ -5,12 +5,8 @@ import re
 import logging
 
 import six # Python 2+3 compatibility
-try:
-    from django.conf import settings
-except ImportError:
-    # in case it's not a django project
-    settings = None
 
+from .settings import STRICT
 
 def bytesindex(s,i,j=None):
     """implements s[i], s[i:], s[i:j] for Python2 and Python3"""
@@ -21,7 +17,6 @@ def bytesindex(s,i,j=None):
 
 from .utils import choplist
 
-STRICT = getattr(settings, 'PDF_MINER_IS_STRICT', True)
 
 ##  PS Exceptions
 ##
diff --git a/pdfminer/settings.py b/pdfminer/settings.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..350b2ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pdfminer/settings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+try:
+    from django.conf import django_settings
+except (ImportError, NameError) as e:
+    # in case it's not a django project
+    django_settings = None
+
+# Get defaults from django settings
+STRICT = getattr(django_settings, 'PDF_MINER_IS_STRICT', True)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 5676ca3..5fe5838 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ setup(
     version=__version__,
     packages=['pdfminer',],
     package_data={'pdfminer': ['cmap/*.pickle.gz']},
-    install_requires=['six', 'chardet'] if sys.version_info.major>2 else ['six'],
+    install_requires=['six', 'chardet'] if sys.version_info >= (3, 0) else ['six'],
     description='PDF parser and analyzer',
     long_description='''fork of PDFMiner using six for Python 2+3 compatibility
     
diff --git a/tools/pdf2txt.py b/tools/pdf2txt.py
index f449928..d9a3ebb 100755
--- a/tools/pdf2txt.py
+++ b/tools/pdf2txt.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ Converts PDF text content (though not images containing text) to plain text, htm
 import sys
 import logging
 import six
+import pdfminer.settings
+pdfminer.settings.STRICT = False
 import pdfminer.high_level
 import pdfminer.layout
 
@@ -24,7 +26,7 @@ def extract_text(files=[], outfile='-',
 
     # If any LAParams group arguments were passed, create an LAParams object and
     # populate with given args. Otherwise, set it to None.
-    if not no_laparams: 
+    if not no_laparams:
         laparams = pdfminer.layout.LAParams()
         for param in ("all_texts", "detect_vertical", "word_margin", "char_margin", "line_margin", "boxes_flow"):
             paramv = locals().get(param, None)
@@ -44,14 +46,14 @@ def extract_text(files=[], outfile='-',
                                     (".tag", "tag") ):
             if outfile.endswith(override):
                 output_type = alttype
-    
+
     if outfile == "-":
         outfp = sys.stdout
         if outfp.encoding is not None:
             codec = 'utf-8'
     else:
         outfp = open(outfile, "wb")
-    
+
 
     for fname in files:
         with open(fname, "rb") as fp:
@@ -90,7 +92,7 @@ def main(args=None):
         A.page_numbers = set([x-1 for x in A.page_numbers])
     if A.pagenos:
         A.page_numbers = set([int(x)-1 for x in A.pagenos.split(",")])
-        
+
     imagewriter = None
     if A.output_dir:
         imagewriter = ImageWriter(A.output_dir)