diff --git a/.github/workflows/smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/smoke.yml
index 22d9235b7..6e85e1d77 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/smoke.yml
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.12"
 
-      - name: Packages
-        run: pip install -r tests/requirements.txt
-
       - name: Linters
         run: make lint
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 968494e2e..4830ef6a1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ LDFLAGS ?= ""
 CFLAGS ?= "-O0"
 
 PYAV_PYTHON ?= python
+PYAV_PIP ?= pip
 PYTHON := $(PYAV_PYTHON)
+PIP := $(PYAV_PIP)
 
 
 .PHONY: default build clean fate-suite lint test
@@ -11,6 +13,8 @@ default: build
 
 
 build:
+	# Always try to install the Python dependencies they are cheap.
+	$(PIP) install --upgrade -r tests/requirements.txt
 	CFLAGS=$(CFLAGS) LDFLAGS=$(LDFLAGS) $(PYTHON) setup.py build_ext --inplace --debug
 
 clean:
@@ -25,10 +29,12 @@ fate-suite:
 	rsync -vrltLW rsync://fate-suite.ffmpeg.org/fate-suite/ tests/assets/fate-suite/
 
 lint:
+	$(PIP) install --upgrade -r tests/requirements.txt
 	black --check av examples tests setup.py
 	flake8 av examples tests
 	isort --check-only --diff av examples tests
 	mypy av tests
 
 test:
-	$(PYTHON) setup.py test
+	$(PIP) install --upgrade -r tests/requirements.txt
+	$(PYTHON) -m pytest
diff --git a/scripts/activate.sh b/scripts/activate.sh
index 67cc5462e..99be26dcc 100755
--- a/scripts/activate.sh
+++ b/scripts/activate.sh
@@ -9,10 +9,13 @@ fi
 export PYAV_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.."; pwd)"
 
 if [[ ! "$PYAV_LIBRARY" ]]; then
-
-    # Pull from command line argument.
     if [[ "$1" ]]; then
-        PYAV_LIBRARY="$1"
+        if [[ "$1" == ffmpeg-* ]]; then
+            PYAV_LIBRARY="$1"
+        else
+            echo "Error: PYAV_LIBRARY must start with 'ffmpeg-'" >&2
+            return 1
+        fi
     else
         PYAV_LIBRARY=ffmpeg-7.0.1
         echo "No \$PYAV_LIBRARY set; defaulting to $PYAV_LIBRARY"
diff --git a/scripts/build-deps b/scripts/build-deps
index f151fc88d..ef7ebff22 100755
--- a/scripts/build-deps
+++ b/scripts/build-deps
@@ -8,12 +8,11 @@ fi
 cd "$PYAV_ROOT"
 
 # Always try to install the Python dependencies they are cheap.
-$PYAV_PIP install --upgrade -r tests/requirements.txt
-
+$PYAV_PIP install --upgrade -r tests/requirements.txt 2> /dev/null
 
 # Skip the rest of the build if it already exists.
 if [[ -e "$PYAV_LIBRARY_PREFIX/bin/ffmpeg" ]]; then
-    echo "We have a cached build of $PYAV_LIBRARY; skipping re-build."
+    echo "We have a cached build of ffmpeg-$PYAV_LIBRARY; skipping re-build."
     exit 0
 fi
 
diff --git a/scripts/test b/scripts/test
index 01991f5a6..270a4ec69 100755
--- a/scripts/test
+++ b/scripts/test
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ istest() {
 }
 
 if istest main; then
-    $PYAV_PYTHON setup.py test
+    $PYAV_PYTHON -m pytest
 fi
 
 if istest examples; then
diff --git a/tests/requirements.txt b/tests/requirements.txt
index f9f354439..2907b9e22 100644
--- a/tests/requirements.txt
+++ b/tests/requirements.txt
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ black
 isort
 flake8
 flake8-pyproject
+pytest
 sphinx==5.1.0
 mypy==1.10.0