diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/aparat.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/aparat.py
index 56775289b..15006336f 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/aparat.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/aparat.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # coding: utf-8
-
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import re
@@ -26,8 +25,7 @@ class AparatIE(InfoExtractor):
     }
 
     def _real_extract(self, url):
-        m = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)
-        video_id = m.group('id')
+        video_id = self._match_id(url)
 
         # Note: There is an easier-to-parse configuration at
         # http://www.aparat.com/video/video/config/videohash/%video_id
@@ -40,15 +38,15 @@ class AparatIE(InfoExtractor):
         for i, video_url in enumerate(video_urls):
             req = HEADRequest(video_url)
             res = self._request_webpage(
-                req, video_id, note=u'Testing video URL %d' % i, errnote=False)
+                req, video_id, note='Testing video URL %d' % i, errnote=False)
             if res:
                 break
         else:
-            raise ExtractorError(u'No working video URLs found')
+            raise ExtractorError('No working video URLs found')
 
-        title = self._search_regex(r'\s+title:\s*"([^"]+)"', webpage, u'title')
+        title = self._search_regex(r'\s+title:\s*"([^"]+)"', webpage, 'title')
         thumbnail = self._search_regex(
-            r'\s+image:\s*"([^"]+)"', webpage, u'thumbnail', fatal=False)
+            r'\s+image:\s*"([^"]+)"', webpage, 'thumbnail', fatal=False)
 
         return {
             'id': video_id,