diff --git a/openstack_releases/cmds/check_diff_start.py b/openstack_releases/cmds/check_diff_start.py
index 887bc49523..cb0b88a620 100644
--- a/openstack_releases/cmds/check_diff_start.py
+++ b/openstack_releases/cmds/check_diff_start.py
@@ -68,10 +68,7 @@ def main():
 
     def cleanup_workdir():
         if args.cleanup:
-            try:
-                shutil.rmtree(workdir)
-            except:
-                pass
+            shutil.rmtree(workdir, True)
         else:
             print('not cleaning up %s' % workdir)
     atexit.register(cleanup_workdir)
diff --git a/openstack_releases/cmds/list_changes.py b/openstack_releases/cmds/list_changes.py
index 60fc3b9079..02ed894799 100644
--- a/openstack_releases/cmds/list_changes.py
+++ b/openstack_releases/cmds/list_changes.py
@@ -229,10 +229,7 @@ def main():
 
     def cleanup_workdir():
         if args.cleanup:
-            try:
-                shutil.rmtree(workdir)
-            except:
-                pass
+            shutil.rmtree(workdir, True)
         else:
             print('not cleaning up %s' % workdir)
     atexit.register(cleanup_workdir)
diff --git a/openstack_releases/cmds/new_release.py b/openstack_releases/cmds/new_release.py
index 4684936f25..bd67024084 100644
--- a/openstack_releases/cmds/new_release.py
+++ b/openstack_releases/cmds/new_release.py
@@ -162,10 +162,7 @@ def main():
 
     def cleanup_workdir():
         if args.cleanup:
-            try:
-                shutil.rmtree(workdir)
-            except:
-                pass
+            shutil.rmtree(workdir, True)
         else:
             print('not cleaning up %s' % workdir)
     atexit.register(cleanup_workdir)
diff --git a/openstack_releases/cmds/validate.py b/openstack_releases/cmds/validate.py
index 141422317f..8697a298b7 100644
--- a/openstack_releases/cmds/validate.py
+++ b/openstack_releases/cmds/validate.py
@@ -1211,10 +1211,7 @@ def main():
 
     def cleanup_workdir():
         if args.cleanup:
-            try:
-                shutil.rmtree(workdir)
-            except:
-                pass
+            shutil.rmtree(workdir, True)
         else:
             print('not cleaning up %s' % workdir)
     atexit.register(cleanup_workdir)
diff --git a/openstack_releases/deliverable.py b/openstack_releases/deliverable.py
index 2a09b8fce7..b87a848ecd 100644
--- a/openstack_releases/deliverable.py
+++ b/openstack_releases/deliverable.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def _collapse_deliverable_history(name, info):
             parsed_vers = pbr.version.SemanticVersion.from_pip_string(
                 str(r['version']))
             vers_tuple = parsed_vers.version_tuple()
-        except:
+        except Exception:
             # If we can't parse the version, it must be some sort
             # of made up legacy tag. Ignore the parse error
             # and include the value in our output.
diff --git a/openstack_releases/tests/test_validate.py b/openstack_releases/tests/test_validate.py
index 382d08fb5f..083ca42933 100644
--- a/openstack_releases/tests/test_validate.py
+++ b/openstack_releases/tests/test_validate.py
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ import fixtures
 import mock
 from oslotest import base
 
+from openstack_releases.cmds import validate
 from openstack_releases import defaults
 from openstack_releases import gitutils
-from openstack_releases.cmds import validate
 from openstack_releases import yamlutils
 
 
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index b71e0c4bdc..af2bc030c9 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # of appearance. Changing the order has an impact on the overall integration
 # process, which may cause wedges in the gate later.
 
-hacking<0.11,>=0.10.0
+hacking>=1.0.0,<1.1.0
 
 fixtures>=3.0.0 # Apache-2.0/BSD
 python-subunit>=0.0.18 # Apache-2.0/BSD
diff --git a/tools/discover_branch_points.py b/tools/discover_branch_points.py
index b47d9b8788..1e2517a048 100755
--- a/tools/discover_branch_points.py
+++ b/tools/discover_branch_points.py
@@ -140,10 +140,7 @@ def main():
 
     def cleanup_workdir():
         if args.cleanup:
-            try:
-                shutil.rmtree(workdir)
-            except:
-                pass
+            shutil.rmtree(workdir, True)
     atexit.register(cleanup_workdir)
 
     branch_name = 'origin/stable/' + args.series
diff --git a/tools/verify_branches_and_late_releases.py b/tools/verify_branches_and_late_releases.py
index 14a8b377ba..a89d0c5d10 100755
--- a/tools/verify_branches_and_late_releases.py
+++ b/tools/verify_branches_and_late_releases.py
@@ -106,11 +106,8 @@ def main():
 
     def cleanup_workdir():
         if args.cleanup:
-            try:
-                verbose('cleaning up temporary files in {}'.format(workdir))
-                shutil.rmtree(workdir)
-            except:
-                pass
+            verbose('cleaning up temporary files in {}'.format(workdir))
+            shutil.rmtree(workdir, True)
         else:
             print('not cleaning up {}'.format(workdir))
     atexit.register(cleanup_workdir)
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 73f3524661..499f4cbcfa 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ commands =
     {toxinidir}/tools/tox-log-command.sh list-changes {posargs}
 
 [testenv:pep8]
-deps = flake8>=2.2.4,<=2.4.1
 commands = flake8
 
 [testenv:bashate]
@@ -72,7 +71,7 @@ commands =
 # E501 skipped because some of the code files include templates
 #      that end up quite wide
 show-source = True
-ignore = E123,E125,E501
+ignore = E123,E125,E501,H405
 builtins = _
 exclude=.venv,.git,.tox,dist,doc,*lib/python*,*egg,build,release-tag-*