target = {'foo': 'FOO'} def is_instance(obj, klass): """Version of is_instance that doesn't access __class__""" return issubclass(type(obj), klass) class SomeClass(object): class_attribute = None def wibble(self): pass class X(object): pass def examine_warnings(func): def wrapper(): with catch_warnings(record=True) as ws: func(ws) return wrapper