diff --git a/heat/hacking/checks.py b/heat/hacking/checks.py
index dade30bb25..4c39435383 100644
--- a/heat/hacking/checks.py
+++ b/heat/hacking/checks.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 
 import re
 
+from hacking import core
+
 
 """
 Guidelines for writing new hacking checks
@@ -31,6 +33,7 @@ Guidelines for writing new hacking checks
 """
 
 
+@core.flake8ext
 def no_log_warn(logical_line):
     """Disallow 'LOG.warn('
 
@@ -42,6 +45,7 @@ def no_log_warn(logical_line):
         yield(0, 'Heat301 Use LOG.warning() rather than LOG.warn()')
 
 
+@core.flake8ext
 def check_python3_no_iteritems(logical_line):
     msg = ("Heat302: Use dict.items() instead of dict.iteritems().")
 
@@ -49,6 +53,7 @@ def check_python3_no_iteritems(logical_line):
         yield(0, msg)
 
 
+@core.flake8ext
 def check_python3_no_iterkeys(logical_line):
     msg = ("Heat303: Use dict.keys() instead of dict.iterkeys().")
 
@@ -56,15 +61,9 @@ def check_python3_no_iterkeys(logical_line):
         yield(0, msg)
 
 
+@core.flake8ext
 def check_python3_no_itervalues(logical_line):
     msg = ("Heat304: Use dict.values() instead of dict.itervalues().")
 
     if re.search(r".*\.itervalues\(\)", logical_line):
         yield(0, msg)
-
-
-def factory(register):
-    register(no_log_warn)
-    register(check_python3_no_iteritems)
-    register(check_python3_no_iterkeys)
-    register(check_python3_no_itervalues)
diff --git a/lower-constraints.txt b/lower-constraints.txt
index e859aba3a6..35874684d6 100644
--- a/lower-constraints.txt
+++ b/lower-constraints.txt
@@ -28,13 +28,11 @@ eventlet==0.18.2
 extras==1.0.0
 fasteners==0.14.1
 fixtures==3.0.0
-flake8==2.5.5
 future==0.16.0
 futurist==1.6.0
 gitdb2==2.0.3
 GitPython==2.1.8
 greenlet==0.4.13
-hacking==0.12.0
 idna==2.6
 iso8601==0.1.12
 Jinja2==2.10
@@ -84,7 +82,6 @@ paramiko==2.4.1
 Paste==2.0.3
 PasteDeploy==1.5.0
 pbr==2.0.0
-pep8==1.5.7
 pika-pool==0.1.3
 pika==0.10.0
 ply==3.11
@@ -94,7 +91,6 @@ psycopg2==2.7
 pyasn1==0.4.2
 pycadf==2.7.0
 pycparser==2.18
-pyflakes==0.8.1
 Pygments==2.2.0
 pyinotify==0.9.6
 PyMySQL==0.7.6
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index d7bd8f6f8a..9e9a488a4c 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # process, which may cause wedges in the gate later.
 
 # Hacking already pins down pep8, pyflakes and flake8
-hacking!=0.13.0,<0.14,>=0.12.0 # Apache-2.0
+hacking>=3.0,<3.1.0 # Apache-2.0
 bandit!=1.6.0,>=1.1.0 # Apache-2.0
 coverage!=4.4,>=4.0 # Apache-2.0
 fixtures>=3.0.0 # Apache-2.0/BSD
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 736297877a..62df7fa829 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -108,8 +108,21 @@ commands = bandit -r heat -x tests --skip B101,B104,B107,B110,B310,B311,B404,B41
 
 [flake8]
 show-source = true
+# E117 over-indented
+# E123 closing bracket does not match indentation of opening bracket's line
+# E226 missing whitespace around arithmetic operator
+# E241 multiple spaces after ','
+# E305 expected 2 blank lines after class or function definition, found 1
+# E402 module level import not at top of file
+# E731 do not assign a lambda expression, use a def
+# E741 ambiguous variable name 'l'
+# F841 local variable 'ex' is assigned to but never used
+# W503 line break before binary operator
+# W504 line break after binary operator
+# W605 invalid escape sequence '\ '
+ignore = E117,E123,E226,E241,E305,E402,E731,E741,F841,W503,W504,W605
 exclude=.*,dist,*lib/python*,*egg,build,*convergence/scenarios/*
-max-complexity=20
+max-complexity=23
 
 [doc8]
 ignore = D001
@@ -117,7 +130,14 @@ ignore-path = .venv,.git,.tox,.tmp,*heat/locale*,*lib/python*,openstack_heat.egg
 
 [hacking]
 import_exceptions = heat.common.i18n
-local-check-factory = heat.hacking.checks.factory
+
+[flake8:local-plugins]
+extension =
+    Heat301 = checks:no_log_warn
+    Heat302 = checks:check_python3_no_iteritems
+    Heat303 = checks:check_python3_no_iterkeys
+    Heat304 = checks:check_python3_no_itervalues
+paths = ./heat/hacking
 
 [testenv:debug]
 commands = oslo_debug_helper {posargs}