diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e82d0de..657307d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,39 +1,39 @@
 SYSTEMPYTHON = `which python2 python | head -n 1`
 VIRTUALENV = virtualenv --python=$(SYSTEMPYTHON)
-PYTHON = local/bin/python
-NOSE = local/bin/nosetests -s
-FLAKE8 = local/bin/flake8
-PIP = local/bin/pip
-PIP_CACHE = /tmp/pip-cache.${USER}
-BUILD_TMP = /tmp/syncstorage-build.${USER}
-PYPI = https://pypi.python.org/simple
-INSTALL = $(PIP) install -U -i $(PYPI)
+ENV = ./local
+TOOLS := $(addprefix $(ENV)/bin/,flake8 nosetests)
 
-.PHONY: all build test serve clean
+.PHONY: all
+all: build
 
-all:	build test
+.PHONY: build
+build: | $(ENV)
+$(ENV):
+	$(VIRTUALENV) --no-site-packages $(ENV)
+	$(ENV)/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
+	$(ENV)/bin/python ./setup.py develop
 
-build:
-	$(VIRTUALENV) --no-site-packages --distribute ./local
-	$(INSTALL) --upgrade Distribute
-	$(INSTALL) pip
-	$(INSTALL) nose
-	$(INSTALL) flake8
-	$(INSTALL) -r requirements.txt
-	$(PYTHON) ./setup.py develop
+.PHONY: test
+test: | $(TOOLS)
+	$(ENV)/bin/flake8 ./syncserver
+	$(ENV)/bin/nosetests -s syncstorage.tests
+	# Tokenserver tests currently broken due to incorrect file paths
+	# $(ENV)/bin/nosetests -s tokenserver.tests
+	
+	# Test against a running server
+	$(ENV)/bin/pserve syncserver/tests.ini & SERVER_PID=$$!; \
+	sleep 2; \
+	$(ENV)/bin/python -m syncstorage.tests.functional.test_storage \
+		--use-token-server http://localhost:5000/token/1.0/sync/1.5; \
+	kill $$SERVER_PID
 
-test:
-	# Basic syntax and sanity checks.
-	$(FLAKE8) ./syncserver
-	# Testcases from syncstorage app
-	$(NOSE) syncstorage.tests
-	# Testcases from tokenserver app; broken due to incorrect file paths
-	#$(NOSE) tokenserver.tests
-	# Live tests against a running server.
-	./local/bin/pserve syncserver/tests.ini & SERVER_PID=$$! ; sleep 2 ; ./local/bin/python -m syncstorage.tests.functional.test_storage --use-token-server http://localhost:5000/token/1.0/sync/1.5 ; kill $$SERVER_PID
+$(TOOLS): | $(ENV)
+	$(ENV)/bin/pip install nose flake8
 
-serve:
-	./local/bin/pserve ./syncserver.ini
+.PHONY: serve
+serve: | $(ENV)
+	$(ENV)/bin/pserve ./syncserver.ini
 
+.PHONY: clean
 clean:
-	rm -rf ./local
+	rm -rf $(ENV)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 7db9ab8..78d2be9 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,27 +4,22 @@ Chameleon==2.14
 chardet==2.2.1
 circus==0.10
 cornice==0.16.2
-coverage==3.7.1
 docutils==0.11
-flake8==2.1.0
 gevent==1.0
 greenlet==0.4.1
 hawkauthlib==0.1.1
 Jinja2==2.7.1
 Mako==0.9.1
 MarkupSafe==0.18
-mccabe==0.2.1
 metlog-py==0.10
 ordereddict==1.1
 Paste==1.7.5.1
 PasteDeploy==1.5.2
 PasteScript==1.7.5
-pep8==1.4.6
 powerhose==0.7
 protobuf==2.5
 psutil==1.2.1
 PyBrowserID==0.9.1
-pyflakes==0.7.3
 Pygments==1.6
 PyMySQL==0.6.1
 pymysql_sa==1.0
diff --git a/syncserver/__init__.py b/syncserver/__init__.py
index 8b3a6bf..68260c1 100644
--- a/syncserver/__init__.py
+++ b/syncserver/__init__.py
@@ -62,8 +62,7 @@ def includeme(config):
         settings["browserid.backend"] = "tokenserver.verifiers.RemoteVerifier"
         settings["browserid.audiences"] = public_url
     if "metlog.backend" not in settings:
-        # Default to capturing metlog output in memory.
-        # In other words, stop of from being so damn chatty on stdout.
+        # Default to sending metlog output to stdout.
         settings["metlog.backend"] = "mozsvc.metrics.MetlogPlugin"
         settings["metlog.sender_class"] = "metlog.senders.StdOutSender"
         settings["metlog.enabled"] = True
diff --git a/syncserver/tests.ini b/syncserver/tests.ini
index 50b7776..d64cc29 100644
--- a/syncserver/tests.ini
+++ b/syncserver/tests.ini
@@ -15,3 +15,9 @@ public_url = http://localhost:5000/
 
 # This is a secret key used for signing authentication tokens.
 #secret = INSERT_SECRET_KEY_HERE
+
+# Enable metlog during tests, but do not log normal traffic to stdout.
+[metlog]
+backend = "mozsvc.metrics.MetlogPlugin"
+sender_class = "metlog.senders.DebugCaptureSender"
+enabled = True