diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index f787261..4de52e4 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -90,6 +90,13 @@ matrix:
     - KNOWN2FAIL: 1
 
 
+# do not run the CI if only documentation changes were made
+# documentation builds are tested elsewhere and cheaper
+skip_commits:
+  files:
+    - docs/
+
+
 # it is OK to specify paths that may not exist for a particular test run
 cache:
   # pip cache
@@ -190,9 +197,8 @@ test_script:
   - cmd: md __testhome__
   - sh: mkdir __testhome__
   - cd __testhome__
-    # run test selecion (--traverse-namespace needed from Python 3.8 onwards)
-  - cmd: python -m nose --traverse-namespace -s -v -A "not (turtle)" --with-cov --cover-package datalad_ebrains %DTS%
-  - sh:  python -m nose --traverse-namespace -s -v -A "not (turtle)" --with-cov --cover-package datalad_ebrains ${DTS}
+  - cmd: python -m pytest -s -v -m "not (turtle)" --doctest-modules --cov=datalad_ebrains --pyargs %DTS%
+  - sh:  python -m pytest -s -v -m "not (turtle)" --doctest-modules --cov=datalad_ebrains --pyargs ${DTS}
 
 
 after_test:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_crippledfs.yml b/.github/workflows/test_crippledfs.yml
index e0d4124..c2c1ff5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_crippledfs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_crippledfs.yml
@@ -52,4 +52,4 @@ jobs:
         echo "== mount >>"
         mount
         echo "<< mount =="
-        python -m nose -s -v --with-doctest --with-coverage --cover-package datalad_helloworld datalad_helloworld
+        python -m pytest -s -v --doctest-modules --cov=datalad_ebrains --pyargs datalad_ebrains
diff --git a/requirements-devel.txt b/requirements-devel.txt
index 5db3241..364f811 100644
--- a/requirements-devel.txt
+++ b/requirements-devel.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # requirements for a development environment
-nose
+pytest
+pytest-cov
 coverage
 sphinx
 sphinx_rtd_theme
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index ab7006d..5f8e04b 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ classifiers =
     Programming Language :: Python :: 3
 
 [options]
-python_requires = >= 3.6
+python_requires = >= 3.7
 install_requires =
-    datalad >= 0.16
+    datalad >= 0.17
     datalad_next
 packages = find_namespace:
 include_package_data = True
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ include = datalad_ebrains*
 [options.extras_require]
 # this matches the name used by -core and what is expected by some CI setups
 devel =
-    nose
+    pytest
     coverage
 
 [options.entry_points]