diff --git a/pandas/core/frame.py b/pandas/core/frame.py
index 19f15f58afffd..80edfa2af024e 100644
--- a/pandas/core/frame.py
+++ b/pandas/core/frame.py
@@ -794,10 +794,7 @@ def from_records(cls, data, index=None, exclude=None, columns=None,
                 return cls()
 
             try:
-                if compat.PY3:
-                    first_row = next(data)
-                else:
-                    first_row = next(data)
+                first_row = next(data)
             except StopIteration:
                 return cls(index=index, columns=columns)