diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c0c3bc7f8..7835c218a 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ def read(*paths):
 
 setup(
     name='python-telegram-bot',
-    version='2.2',
+    version='2.3',
     author='Leandro Toledo',
     author_email='leandrotoledodesouza@gmail.com',
     license='GPLv2',
diff --git a/telegram/bot.py b/telegram/bot.py
index 477b6b0f8..78bdc42e9 100644
--- a/telegram/bot.py
+++ b/telegram/bot.py
@@ -585,7 +585,8 @@ class Bot(TelegramObject):
           A JSON object.
         """
         if method not in ('POST', 'GET'):
-            raise ValueError("Method '{}' is neither 'POST' nor 'GET'".format(method))
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Method '%s' is neither 'POST' nor 'GET'" % method)
 
         if method == 'POST':
             try:
@@ -617,7 +618,6 @@ class Bot(TelegramObject):
             except URLError as e:
                 raise TelegramError(str(e))
 
-
     def _parseAndCheckTelegram(self,
                                json_data):
         """Try and parse the JSON returned from Telegram and return an empty