diff --git a/.testr.conf b/.testr.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42a77d387
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.testr.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+[DEFAULT]
+test_command=OS_STDOUT_CAPTURE=${OS_STDOUT_CAPTURE:-1} \
+             OS_STDERR_CAPTURE=${OS_STDERR_CAPTURE:-1} \
+             OS_TEST_TIMEOUT=${OS_TEST_TIMEOUT:-60} \
+             ${PYTHON:-python} -m subunit.run discover -t . ./tests $LISTOPT $IDOPTION
+
+test_id_option=--load-list $IDFILE
+test_list_option=--list
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index 55edf5d17..dc39a0ad0 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -15,8 +15,3 @@ testtools>=0.9.32
 
 # Functional Tests
 requests>=1.1
-
-# Test runner
-nose
-nose-exclude
-openstack.nose_plugin>=0.7
diff --git a/tests/unit/queues/transport/wsgi/test_utils.py b/tests/unit/queues/transport/wsgi/test_utils.py
index b6ca74744..b0dd27843 100644
--- a/tests/unit/queues/transport/wsgi/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/queues/transport/wsgi/test_utils.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import io
 import json
 
 import falcon
+import six
 import testtools
 
 from marconi.queues.transport.wsgi import utils
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ class TestWSGIutils(testtools.TestCase):
 
     def test_no_spec(self):
         obj = {u'body': {'event': 'start_backup'}, 'ttl': 300}
-        document = json.dumps(obj, ensure_ascii=False)
+        document = six.text_type(json.dumps(obj, ensure_ascii=False))
         doc_stream = io.StringIO(document)
 
         filtered = utils.filter_stream(doc_stream, len(document), spec=None)
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ class TestWSGIutils(testtools.TestCase):
 
     def test_no_spec_array(self):
         things = [{u'body': {'event': 'start_backup'}, 'ttl': 300}]
-        document = json.dumps(things, ensure_ascii=False)
+        document = six.text_type(json.dumps(things, ensure_ascii=False))
         doc_stream = io.StringIO(document)
 
         filtered = utils.filter_stream(doc_stream, len(document),
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ class TestWSGIutils(testtools.TestCase):
     def test_filter_stream_expect_obj(self):
         obj = {u'body': {'event': 'start_backup'}, 'id': 'DEADBEEF'}
 
-        document = json.dumps(obj, ensure_ascii=False)
+        document = six.text_type(json.dumps(obj, ensure_ascii=False))
         stream = io.StringIO(document)
         spec = [('body', dict), ('id', basestring)]
         filtered_object, = utils.filter_stream(stream, len(document), spec)
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ class TestWSGIutils(testtools.TestCase):
     def test_filter_stream_expect_array(self):
         array = [{u'body': {u'x': 1}}, {u'body': {u'x': 2}}]
 
-        document = json.dumps(array, ensure_ascii=False)
+        document = six.text_type(json.dumps(array, ensure_ascii=False))
         stream = io.StringIO(document)
         spec = [('body', dict)]
         filtered_objects = list(utils.filter_stream(
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index e385f5eec..af416dd9b 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -8,15 +8,13 @@ usedevelop = True
 # Customize pip command, add -U to force updates.
 install_command = pip install -U {opts} {packages}
 setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
-         NOSE_WITH_OPENSTACK=1
-         NOSE_OPENSTACK_COLOR=1
-         NOSE_OPENSTACK_RED=0.05
-         NOSE_OPENSTACK_YELLOW=0.025
-         NOSE_OPENSTACK_SHOW_ELAPSED=1
-         NOSE_OPENSTACK_STDOUT=1
+         MARCONI_TESTS_DIR={toxinidir}/tests
+         MARCONI_TESTS_CONFIGS_DIR={toxinidir}/tests/etc/
+
 deps = -r{toxinidir}/requirements.txt
        -r{toxinidir}/test-requirements.txt
-commands = nosetests {posargs}
+#commands = nosetests {posargs}
+commands = python setup.py testr --slowest --testr-args='--concurrency 1 {posargs}'
 
 [tox:jenkins]
 downloadcache = ~/cache/pip
@@ -26,6 +24,9 @@ commands = flake8
 
 [testenv:cover]
 setenv = NOSE_WITH_COVERAGE=1
+commands =
+  python setup.py testr --coverage \
+    --testr-args='^(?!.*test.*coverage).*$'
 
 [testenv:venv]
 commands = {posargs}