diff --git a/vm/src/bytesinner.rs b/vm/src/bytesinner.rs
index 14667a69e8..c302381e34 100644
--- a/vm/src/bytesinner.rs
+++ b/vm/src/bytesinner.rs
@@ -190,7 +190,8 @@ impl ByteInnerPaddingOptions {
                 .ok_or_else(|| {
                     vm.new_type_error(format!(
                         "{}() argument 2 must be a byte string of length 1, not {}",
-                        fn_name, &v
+                        fn_name,
+                        v.class().name()
                     ))
                 })?
         } else {
diff --git a/vm/src/macros.rs b/vm/src/macros.rs
index 013926aa8e..21db2e40eb 100644
--- a/vm/src/macros.rs
+++ b/vm/src/macros.rs
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ macro_rules! py_namespace {
 /// let int_value = match_class!(match obj {
 ///     i @ PyInt => i.as_bigint().clone(),
 ///     f @ PyFloat => f.to_f64().to_bigint().unwrap(),
-///     obj => panic!("non-numeric object {}", obj),
+///     obj => panic!("non-numeric object {:?}", obj),
 /// });
 ///
 /// assert!(int_value.is_zero());
diff --git a/vm/src/object/ext.rs b/vm/src/object/ext.rs
index 4d178ea656..14b9d61df3 100644
--- a/vm/src/object/ext.rs
+++ b/vm/src/object/ext.rs
@@ -29,18 +29,6 @@ Basically reference counting, but then done by rust.
 /// since exceptions are also python objects.
 pub type PyResult<T = PyObjectRef> = Result<T, PyBaseExceptionRef>; // A valid value, or an exception
 
-// TODO: remove these 2 impls
-impl fmt::Display for PyObjectRef {
-    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-        (**self).fmt(f)
-    }
-}
-impl fmt::Display for PyObject {
-    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-        write!(f, "'{}' object", self.class().name())
-    }
-}
-
 impl<T: fmt::Display> fmt::Display for PyRef<T>
 where
     T: PyObjectPayload + fmt::Display,
diff --git a/vm/src/protocol/object.rs b/vm/src/protocol/object.rs
index 4869d92862..54f4d84b13 100644
--- a/vm/src/protocol/object.rs
+++ b/vm/src/protocol/object.rs
@@ -184,7 +184,13 @@ impl PyObject {
 
     pub fn generic_getattr(&self, name: PyStrRef, vm: &VirtualMachine) -> PyResult {
         self.generic_getattr_opt(name.clone(), None, vm)?
-            .ok_or_else(|| vm.new_attribute_error(format!("{} has no attribute '{}'", self, name)))
+            .ok_or_else(|| {
+                vm.new_attribute_error(format!(
+                    "'{}' object has no attribute '{}'",
+                    self.class().name(),
+                    name
+                ))
+            })
     }
 
     /// CPython _PyObject_GenericGetAttrWithDict
@@ -527,8 +533,12 @@ impl PyObject {
     }
 
     pub fn length(&self, vm: &VirtualMachine) -> PyResult<usize> {
-        self.length_opt(vm)
-            .ok_or_else(|| vm.new_type_error(format!("object of type '{}' has no len()", &self)))?
+        self.length_opt(vm).ok_or_else(|| {
+            vm.new_type_error(format!(
+                "object of type '{}' has no len()",
+                self.class().name()
+            ))
+        })?
     }
 
     pub fn get_item<K: DictKey + ?Sized>(&self, needle: &K, vm: &VirtualMachine) -> PyResult {
diff --git a/vm/src/stdlib/thread.rs b/vm/src/stdlib/thread.rs
index 4715473d7f..890c9a71c8 100644
--- a/vm/src/stdlib/thread.rs
+++ b/vm/src/stdlib/thread.rs
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ pub(crate) mod _thread {
                     .ok_or_else(|| {
                         vm.new_attribute_error(format!(
                             "{} has no attribute '{}'",
-                            zelf.as_object(),
+                            zelf.class().name(),
                             attr
                         ))
                     })
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ pub(crate) mod _thread {
             if attr.as_str() == "__dict__" {
                 Err(vm.new_attribute_error(format!(
                     "{} attribute '__dict__' is read-only",
-                    zelf.as_object()
+                    zelf.class().name()
                 )))
             } else {
                 let dict = zelf.ldict(vm);
diff --git a/vm/src/vm/mod.rs b/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
index 0e13339f84..d169754251 100644
--- a/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
+++ b/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ impl VirtualMachine {
             .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("unable to import {}", module));
         let class = module
             .get_attr(class, self)
-            .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("module {} has no class {}", module, class));
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("module {:?} has no class {}", module, class));
         class.downcast().expect("not a class")
     }