diff --git a/cirrus.conf b/cirrus.conf
index 546bc01..cba5c5c 100644
--- a/cirrus.conf
+++ b/cirrus.conf
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = cirrus-cli
-version = 3.1.0
+version = 3.1.1
 description = cirrus development and build git extensions
 organization = cloudant
 version_file = src/cirrus/__init__.py
diff --git a/installer.sh b/installer.sh
index 4b15020..8f0a544 100644
--- a/installer.sh
+++ b/installer.sh
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ cd ${LOCATION}
 python -m venv venv
 . venv/bin/activate
 
+# Upgrade to the latest pip, otherwise the default 9.x version has trouble 
+# with escaped @ characters in pip.conf
+pip install -i https://pypi.python.org/simple -U pip setuptools
+
 # This depends on a properly configured pip.conf file.
 # See https://github.com/cloudant/service_engineering/wiki/Using-JFrog-Artifactory
 pip install cirrus-cli${CIRRUS_INSTALL_VERSION} 1>> ${LOCATION}/install.log
diff --git a/pytest.ini b/pytest.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8203fca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pytest.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[pytest]
+python_files =
+    *_test.py
+    *_tests.py
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 0650d82..9e620ca 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ argparse==1.2.1
 arrow==0.4.2
 Fabric==2.4.0
 GitPython==2.1.9
-nose==1.3.0
 pep8==1.5.7
 pylint==1.3.0
+pytest
 requests==2.3.0
 PyChef==0.2.3
 keyring==8.5.1
@@ -13,5 +13,4 @@ pluggage
 dockerstache>=0.0.9
 requests-toolbelt==0.6.2
 tox
-wheel
-
+wheel
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/cirrus/__init__.py b/src/cirrus/__init__.py
index 5195a4b..ab7d2a4 100644
--- a/src/cirrus/__init__.py
+++ b/src/cirrus/__init__.py
@@ -18,5 +18,5 @@
    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
    limitations under the License.
 """
-__version__="3.1.0"
+__version__="3.1.1"
 
diff --git a/src/cirrus/test.py b/src/cirrus/test.py
index 74dc785..06789bc 100644
--- a/src/cirrus/test.py
+++ b/src/cirrus/test.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ def build_parser(argslist):
     parser = ArgumentParser(
         description='git cirrus test command'
     )
-    
     parser.add_argument(
         '--suite',
         help=(
@@ -32,8 +31,8 @@ def build_parser(argslist):
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         '--mode',
-        choices=['nosetests', 'tox'],
-        default=None,
+        choices=['nosetests', 'pytest', 'tox'],
+        default='pytest',
         help='Choose test runner framework'
     )
     parser.add_argument(
@@ -62,6 +61,21 @@ def nose_run(config, opts):
     )
 
 
+def pytest_run(config, opts):
+    """
+    Locally activate virtualenv and run tests with pytest
+    """
+    testpath = config.test_where(opts.suite)
+    command = (
+        '. ./{}/bin/activate && pytest {} {}'.format(
+            config.venv_name(),
+            testpath,
+            opts.options
+        )
+    )
+    run(command, pty=True)  # pty preserves pytest colors
+
+
 def tox_run(config, opts):
     """
     tox test
@@ -85,20 +99,20 @@ def main():
     """
     opts = build_parser(sys.argv[1:])
     config = load_configuration()
-    mode = config.test_mode(opts.suite)
-    if opts.mode:
-        mode = opts.mode
-
-    # backwards compat: default to nosetests
-    if mode is None:
-        mode = 'nosetests'
-
-    if mode == 'nosetests':
-        nose_run(config, opts)
-        sys.exit(0)
-    if mode == 'tox':
-        tox_run(config, opts)
-        sys.exit(0)
+    testrunners = {
+        'nosetest': nose_run,
+        'pytest': pytest_run,
+        'tox': tox_run
+    }
+
+    try:
+        testrunner = testrunners[opts.mode]
+    except KeyError as ex:
+        # argpase will catch this first, but just in case...
+        sys.exit("Invalid selection for --mode: {}".format(ex))
+
+    testrunner(config, opts)
+    sys.exit(0)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':