diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index c63806c..de02d17 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -44,6 +44,14 @@ CONDA_ENV_NAMES := \
 CONDA_ENV_PATHS := \
 	$(subst pypy,$(ENV_PREFIX)/$(PKG_NAME)_pypy,$(subst python=,$(ENV_PREFIX)/$(PKG_NAME)_py,$(subst .,,$(SUPPORTED_PYTHON_VERSIONS))))
 
+CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS := \
+	$(shell echo "$(CONDA_ENV_PATHS)" \
+	| sed 's!\(_py[[:digit:]]\+\)!\1/bin/python!g' \
+	| sed 's!\(_pypy2[[:digit:]]\)!\1/bin/pypy!g' \
+	| sed 's!\(_pypy3[[:digit:]]\)!\1/bin/pypy3!g' \
+)
+
+
 
 empty :=
 literal_space := $(empty) $(empty)
@@ -92,6 +100,7 @@ build/envs.txt: requirements/conda.txt
 	@SUPPORTED_PYTHON_VERSIONS="$(SUPPORTED_PYTHON_VERSIONS)" \
 		CONDA_ENV_NAMES="$(CONDA_ENV_NAMES)" \
 		CONDA_ENV_PATHS="$(CONDA_ENV_PATHS)" \
+		CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS="$(CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS)" \
 		CONDA_BIN="$(CONDA_BIN)" \
 		bash scripts/setup_conda_envs.sh;
 
@@ -109,6 +118,7 @@ build/deps.txt: build/envs.txt requirements/*.txt
 	@SUPPORTED_PYTHON_VERSIONS="$(SUPPORTED_PYTHON_VERSIONS)" \
 		CONDA_ENV_NAMES="$(CONDA_ENV_NAMES)" \
 		CONDA_ENV_PATHS="$(CONDA_ENV_PATHS)" \
+		CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS="$(CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS)" \
 		CONDA_BIN="$(CONDA_BIN)" \
 		bash scripts/update_conda_env_deps.sh;
 
@@ -131,9 +141,8 @@ build/deps.txt: build/envs.txt requirements/*.txt
 
 	@rm -f build/deps.txt.tmp;
 
-	@for env_name in $(CONDA_ENV_NAMES); do \
-		env_py="$(ENV_PREFIX)/$${env_name}/bin/python"; \
-		printf "\n# pip freeze for $${env_name}:\n" >> build/deps.txt.tmp; \
+	@for env_py in $(CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS); do \
+		printf "\n# pip freeze for $${env_py}:\n" >> build/deps.txt.tmp; \
 		$${env_py} -m pip freeze >> build/deps.txt.tmp; \
 		printf "\n\n" >> build/deps.txt.tmp; \
 	done
diff --git a/makefile.extra.make b/makefile.extra.make
index 0068ea2..4d4302b 100644
--- a/makefile.extra.make
+++ b/makefile.extra.make
@@ -16,14 +16,6 @@ compat_test/%.py: test/%.py
 	mv $@.tmp $@;
 
 
-CONDA_ENV_PYS := \
-	$(shell echo "$(CONDA_ENV_PATHS)" \
-	| sed 's!\(_py[[:digit:]]\+\)!\1/bin/python!g' \
-	| sed 's!\(_pypy2[[:digit:]]\)!\1/bin/pypy!g' \
-	| sed 's!\(_pypy3[[:digit:]]\)!\1/bin/pypy3!g' \
-)
-
-
 ## Run pytest integration tests
 .PHONY: test_compat
 test_compat: $(COMPAT_TEST_FILES)
@@ -36,7 +28,7 @@ test_compat: $(COMPAT_TEST_FILES)
 	mkdir -p build/test_wheel;
 	$(DEV_ENV_PY) setup.py bdist_wheel --dist-dir build/test_wheel;
 
-	IFS=' ' read -r -a env_pys <<< "$(CONDA_ENV_PYS)"; \
+	IFS=' ' read -r -a env_pys <<< "$(CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS)"; \
 	for i in $${!env_pys[@]}; do \
 		env_py=$${env_pys[i]}; \
 		$${env_py} -m pip install --upgrade build/test_wheel/*.whl; \
diff --git a/requirements/conda.txt b/requirements/conda.txt
index 67ba6a0..d58bfc3 100644
--- a/requirements/conda.txt
+++ b/requirements/conda.txt
@@ -33,9 +33,5 @@
 # speed, security, and simplicity.
 # pyblake2
 
-# pytest is required in every environment to run the test suite
-# against the installed modules.
-pytest
-
 # needed for mypy coverage report
 lxml
diff --git a/scripts/setup_conda_envs.sh b/scripts/setup_conda_envs.sh
index 11b16b4..230c82c 100755
--- a/scripts/setup_conda_envs.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup_conda_envs.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-read -r -a env_paths <<< "${CONDA_ENV_PATHS//, /$IFS}";
 read -r -a env_names <<< "${CONDA_ENV_NAMES//, /$IFS}";
+read -r -a env_py_paths <<< "${CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS//, /$IFS}";
 read -r -a py_versions <<< "${SUPPORTED_PYTHON_VERSIONS//, /$IFS}";
 
-for i in ${!env_paths[@]}; do
-    env_path=${env_paths[i]};
-    env_path_python=${env_path}/bin/python;
+for i in ${!env_py_paths[@]}; do
+    env_path_python=${env_py_paths[i]};
     env_name=${env_names[i]};
     py_version=${py_versions[i]};
 
@@ -19,6 +18,8 @@ for i in ${!env_paths[@]}; do
     ${CONDA_BIN} install --name ${env_name} --channel conda-forge --yes --quiet \
         $(grep -o '^[^#][^ ]*' requirements/conda.txt)
 
+    ${env_path_python} -m ensurepip;
+
     ${env_path_python} --version >> build/envs.txt.tmp \
         2>>build/envs.txt.tmp \
         1>>build/envs.txt.tmp;
diff --git a/scripts/update_conda_env_deps.sh b/scripts/update_conda_env_deps.sh
index c578f3d..fb80e6f 100755
--- a/scripts/update_conda_env_deps.sh
+++ b/scripts/update_conda_env_deps.sh
@@ -1,17 +1,22 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-read -r -a env_paths <<< "${CONDA_ENV_PATHS//, /$IFS}";
+read -r -a env_py_paths <<< "${CONDA_ENV_BIN_PYTHON_PATHS//, /$IFS}";
 read -r -a env_names <<< "${CONDA_ENV_NAMES//, /$IFS}";
 
-for i in ${!env_paths[@]}; do
-    env_path=${env_paths[i]};
-    env_path_python=${env_path}/bin/python;
+for i in ${!env_py_paths[@]}; do
+    env_path_python=${env_py_paths[i]};
     env_name=${env_names[i]};
 
     ${env_path_python} -m pip install --upgrade --quiet pip;
 
     echo "updating ${env_name} pypi deps ...";
 
+    # pytest is required in every environment to run the test suite
+    # against the installed modules.
+    ${env_path_python} -m pip install \
+        --disable-pip-version-check --upgrade --quiet \
+        pytest;
+
     ${env_path_python} -m pip install \
         --disable-pip-version-check --upgrade --quiet \
         --requirement=requirements/pypi.txt;