diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 015910311..708101d07 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,20 +1,18 @@
-language: python
 cache:
   directories:
     - $HOME/.cache/pip
-    - /opt/python
     - $HOME/.pyenv
-    - c/ProgramData/chocolatey/bin
-    - c/ProgramData/chocolatey/lib
+    - c/Users/appveyor/AppData/Local/Temp/chocolatey
 sudo: true
 dist: xenial
-python: "3.7"
 env:
   global:
+    - HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1
     - PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"
     - PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
     - PIP_CACHE_DIR="$HOME/.cache/pip"  # unify pip cache location for all platforms
 stages:
+  - check
   - test
   - build
   - name: deploy
@@ -27,84 +25,80 @@ stages:
 # version, that causes fpm to crash.
 jobs:
   include:
+  # patch formatting checks
+  - name: "Check patch formatting"
+    stage: "check"
+    os: linux
+    language: python
+    python: 3.7
+    before_install:
+    install:
+    script: ./scripts/ci/check_patch.sh
+  # test jobs
   - name: "2.7 on Windows"
     stage: test
     os: windows           # Windows 10.0.17134 N/A Build 17134
     language: shell       # 'language: python' is an error on Travis CI Windows
     env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=2.7
+    - PY2=1
   - name: "3.7 on Windows"
     stage: test
     os: windows           # Windows 10.0.17134 N/A Build 17134
     language: shell       # 'language: python' is an error on Travis CI Windows
-    env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=3.7
-  - name: "2.7"
+  - name: "2.7 on Linux"
     stage: test
+    language: python
+    python: 2.7
     env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=2.7.13
-  - name: "3.5"
+    - PY2=1
+  - name: "3.5 on Linux"
     stage: test
-    env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=3.5.3
-  - name: "3.6"
+    language: python
+    python: 3.5
+  - name: "3.6 on Linux"
     stage: test
-    env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=3.6.2
-  - name: "3.7"
+    language: python
+    python: 3.6
+  - name: "3.7 on Linux"
     stage: test
-    env:
-    # NOTE: using default python
-    - PYTHON_VER=
+    language: python
+    python: 3.7
   - name: "2.7 on Mac"
     stage: test
     os: osx
-    osx_image: xcode7.3
-    language: ruby
-    rvm: 2.4.0
+    osx_image: xcode9.4
     env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=2.7.10
-    - CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/openssl/include $CPPFLAGS"
-    - LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/openssl/lib $LDFLAGS"
-    - PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS="--enable-framework"
-  - name: "3.7 on Mac"
+    - PY2=1
+  - name: "3.6 on Mac"
     stage: test
     os: osx
-    osx_image: xcode7.3
-    language: ruby
-    rvm: 2.4.0
-    env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=3.7.3
-    - PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS="--enable-framework"
+    osx_image: xcode9.4
   # build jobs
   - name: "Mac pkg"
     stage: build
     os: osx
-    osx_image: xcode7.3
+    osx_image: xcode9.4
     language: ruby
     rvm: 2.4.0
-    env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=3.7.3
-    - PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS="--enable-framework"
+    install:
     script: ./scripts/build_posix.sh
   - name: "Windows pkg"
     stage: build
     os: windows
     language: shell
-    env:
-    - PYTHON_VER=3.7
+    install:
     script: ./scripts/build_windows.cmd
   - name: "Linux pkgs"
     stage: build
-    env:
-    # NOTE: using default python
-    - PYTHON_VER=
+    language: python
+    python: 3.7
+    before_install:
+    install:
     script: ./scripts/build_posix.sh
   - name: "Pypi pkgs"
     stage: build
-    env:
-    # NOTE: using default python
-    - PYTHON_VER=
+    language: python
+    python: 3.7
     script: ./scripts/build_package.sh
   # deploy jobs
   - name: "Pypi pkgs"
diff --git a/scripts/build_posix.sh b/scripts/build_posix.sh
index a58902e52..e09a9ef2a 100755
--- a/scripts/build_posix.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_posix.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ install_dependencies()
 		sudo apt-get update -y
 		sudo apt-get install ruby-dev build-essential rpm python-pip python-dev
 	elif command_exists brew; then
-		brew update
 		brew install ruby
 	else
 		echo "Unable to install fpm dependencies" && exit 1
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ install_dependencies()
 	gem install --no-document fpm
 
 	print_info "Installing requirements..."
-	pip install -e .[all]
+	pip install .[all]
 
 	print_info "Installing pyinstaller..."
 	pip install pyinstaller
diff --git a/scripts/ci/before_install.sh b/scripts/ci/before_install.sh
index d1a09ff3f..19645bcad 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/before_install.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/before_install.sh
@@ -11,70 +11,49 @@ if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then
     sudo sysctl -w kern.maxprocperuid=2048
     echo '\nulimit -u 2048' >> ~/.bash_profile
     ulimit -a
-    $scriptdir/retry.sh brew update
-    brew upgrade pyenv
-    # NOTE: used to install and run our style checking tools
-    osx_python_ver=3.6.2
-    eval "$(pyenv init -)"
-    pyenv install --skip-existing --keep --verbose $osx_python_ver &> pyenv.log || tail -n 50 pyenv.log
-    pyenv shell $osx_python_ver
-    python --version
-elif [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "windows" ]]; then
-    choco install python
-    # NOTE: used to install and run our style checking tools
-    PATH=/c/Python37:/c/Python37/Scripts:$PATH
-fi
-
-pip install .[tests]
-
-# stop the build if there are any readme formatting errors
-python setup.py checkdocs
-
-# stop the build if there are any black or flake8 errors
-black ./ --check
-flake8 ./
-
-if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" != "windows" ]]; then
-    #NOTE: ssh keys for ssh test to be able to ssh to the localhost
-    ssh-keygen -t rsa -N "" -f mykey
-    mkdir -p ~/.ssh
-    cp mykey ~/.ssh/id_rsa
-    cp mykey.pub ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
-    cat mykey.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
-    ssh-keyscan localhost >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
-    ssh localhost ls &> /dev/null
-    ssh-keyscan 127.0.0.1 >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
-    ssh 127.0.0.1 ls &> /dev/null
-    ssh-keyscan 0.0.0.0 >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
-    ssh 0.0.0.0 ls &> /dev/null
 fi
 
 echo > env.sh
 
-if [ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ] && [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" == "false" ]
-then
-  bash "$scriptdir/install_azurite.sh"
-  bash "$scriptdir/install_oss.sh"
-  bash "$scriptdir/install_hadoop.sh"
-fi
+if [[ "$TRAVIS_BUILD_STAGE_NAME" == "Test" ]]; then
+    if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" != "windows" ]]; then
+        # NOTE: ssh keys for ssh test to be able to ssh to the localhost
+        ssh-keygen -t rsa -N "" -f mykey
+        mkdir -p ~/.ssh
+        cp mykey ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+        cp mykey.pub ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
+        cat mykey.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
+        ssh-keyscan localhost >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+        ssh localhost ls &> /dev/null
+        ssh-keyscan 127.0.0.1 >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+        ssh 127.0.0.1 ls &> /dev/null
+        ssh-keyscan 0.0.0.0 >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+        ssh 0.0.0.0 ls &> /dev/null
+    fi
 
-if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then
-    brew install openssl
-    $scriptdir/retry.sh brew cask install google-cloud-sdk
-fi
+    if [ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ] && [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" == "false" ]; then
+      bash "$scriptdir/install_azurite.sh"
+      bash "$scriptdir/install_oss.sh"
+      bash "$scriptdir/install_hadoop.sh"
+    fi
 
-if [[ -n "$PYTHON_VER" ]]; then
-    if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "windows" ]]; then
-        if [[ "$PYTHON_VER" == "2.7" ]]; then
-            choco install python2
-            echo 'PATH="/c/Python27:/c/Python27/Scripts:$PATH"' >> env.sh
-        else
-            echo 'PATH="/c/Python37:/c/Python37/Scripts:$PATH"' >> env.sh
-        fi
+    if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" && "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" == "false" ]]; then
+        brew install openssl
+        $scriptdir/retry.sh brew cask install google-cloud-sdk
+    fi
+fi
+
+if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "windows" ]]; then
+    if [[ -n "$PY2" ]]; then
+        choco install python2
+        echo 'PATH="/c/Python27:/c/Python27/Scripts:$PATH"' >> env.sh
     else
-        eval "$(pyenv init -)"
-        echo 'eval "$(pyenv init -)"' >> env.sh
-        pyenv install --skip-existing "$PYTHON_VER"
-        echo "pyenv global $PYTHON_VER" >> env.sh
+        choco install python
+        echo 'PATH="/c/Python37:/c/Python37/Scripts:$PATH"' >> env.sh
+    fi
+elif [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then
+    if [[ ! -n "$PY2" ]]; then
+        ln -s -f /usr/local/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python
+        ln -s -f /usr/local/bin/pip3 /usr/local/bin/pip
     fi
 fi
diff --git a/scripts/ci/check_patch.sh b/scripts/ci/check_patch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7268ccf2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci/check_patch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -x
+set -e
+
+pip install Pygments collective.checkdocs flake8 'black==19.3b0'
+
+# stop the build if there are any readme formatting errors
+python setup.py checkdocs
+
+# stop the build if there are any black or flake8 errors
+black ./ --check
+flake8 ./
diff --git a/scripts/ci/check_python.sh b/scripts/ci/check_python.sh
index 3ce7e5e5e..3ea756a2b 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/check_python.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/check_python.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
 set -e
 set -x
 
@@ -9,16 +11,13 @@ else
     which pip
 fi
 
-if [[ -z "$PYTHON_VER" ]]; then
-    exit 0
-fi
-
-if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "windows" ]]; then
-    if [[ "$(python -c 'import sys; print(sys.version[:3])')" != "$PYTHON_VER" ]]; then
+py_ver="$(python -c 'import sys; print(sys.version[0])')"
+if [[ -n "$PY2" ]]; then
+    if [[ "$py_ver" != "2" ]]; then
         exit 1
     fi
 else
-    if [[ "$(python --version 2>&1)" != "Python $PYTHON_VER" ]]; then
+    if [[ "$py_ver" != "3" ]]; then
         exit 1
     fi
 fi