diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 08de2a54..2c8a8e9e 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -35,6 +35,6 @@ gem 'simplecov', '~> 0.10', require: false
 gem 'coveralls', '~> 0.8', require: false
 
 # Middleman itself
-gem 'middleman', path: 'middleman'
 gem 'middleman-core', path: 'middleman-core'
+gem 'middleman', path: 'middleman'
 gem 'middleman-sprockets', github: 'middleman/middleman-sprockets', branch: 'v3-stable-real'
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 78c26691..89546ff3 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
 require 'rake'
 
-require File.expand_path('../middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/version.rb', __FILE__)
-
-ROOT = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__))
-GEM_NAME = 'middleman'
-
-middleman_gems = %w(middleman-core middleman)
-GEM_PATHS = middleman_gems.freeze
+require 'middleman-core/version'
 
 def sh_rake(command)
   sh "#{Gem.ruby} -S rake #{command}", verbose: true
 end
 
+def within_each_gem(&block)
+  %w(middleman-core middleman).each do |dir|
+    Dir.chdir(dir) { block.call }
+  end
+end
+
 desc 'Displays the current version'
 task :version do
   puts "Current version: #{Middleman::VERSION}"
@@ -28,32 +28,23 @@ end
 desc 'Release all middleman gems'
 task publish: :push do
   puts 'Pushing to rubygems...'
-  GEM_PATHS.each do |dir|
-    Dir.chdir(dir) { sh_rake('release') }
-  end
+  within_each_gem { sh_rake('release') }
 end
 
 desc 'Generate documentation for all middleman gems'
 task :doc do
-  GEM_PATHS.each do |g|
-    Dir.chdir("#{File.join(ROOT, g)}") { sh "#{Gem.ruby} -S rake yard" }
-  end
+  within_each_gem { sh_rake('yard') }
 end
 
 desc 'Run tests for all middleman gems'
 task :test do
   Rake::Task['rubocop'].invoke
-
-  GEM_PATHS.each do |g|
-    Dir.chdir("#{File.join(ROOT, g)}") { sh "#{Gem.ruby} -S rake test" }
-  end
+  within_each_gem { sh_rake('test') }
 end
 
 desc 'Run specs for all middleman gems'
 task :spec do
-  GEM_PATHS.each do |g|
-    Dir.chdir("#{File.join(ROOT, g)}") { sh "#{Gem.ruby} -S rake spec" }
-  end
+  within_each_gem { sh_rake('spec') }
 end
 
 require 'rubocop/rake_task'
diff --git a/gem_rake_helper.rb b/gem_rake_helper.rb
index 0fdd80bb..4e5bd75b 100644
--- a/gem_rake_helper.rb
+++ b/gem_rake_helper.rb
@@ -23,14 +23,6 @@ Cucumber::Rake::Task.new do |t|
   t.cucumber_opts = "--require features --color #{exempt_tags.join(' ')} --strict"# --format #{ENV['CUCUMBER_FORMAT'] || 'Fivemat'}"
 end
 
-Cucumber::Rake::Task.new(:cucumber_wip) do |t|
-  exempt_tags = ['--tags @wip']
-  exempt_tags << '--tags ~@nojava' if RUBY_PLATFORM == 'java'
-  exempt_tags << '--tags ~@encoding' unless Object.const_defined?(:Encoding)
-  exempt_tags << '--tags ~@nowindows' if Gem.win_platform?
-  t.cucumber_opts = "--color #{exempt_tags.join(' ')} --strict"# --format #{ENV['CUCUMBER_FORMAT'] || 'Fivemat'}"
-end
-
 require 'rspec/core/rake_task'
 desc 'Run RSpec'
 RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new do |spec|
@@ -38,8 +30,12 @@ RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new do |spec|
   spec.rspec_opts = ['--color', '--format documentation']
 end
 
+test_tasks = []
+test_tasks << :spec     if Dir.exists? 'spec'
+test_tasks << :cucumber if Dir.exists? 'features'
+
 desc 'Run tests, both RSpec and Cucumber'
-task test: [:spec, :cucumber]
+task test: test_tasks
 
 YARD::Rake::YardocTask.new
 
diff --git a/middleman-core/.gemtest b/middleman-core/.gemtest
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/middleman-core/.rspec b/middleman-core/.rspec
deleted file mode 100644
index 4e1e0d2f..00000000
--- a/middleman-core/.rspec
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
---color
diff --git a/middleman-core/Rakefile b/middleman-core/Rakefile
index 5cbeb120..a093ee44 100644
--- a/middleman-core/Rakefile
+++ b/middleman-core/Rakefile
@@ -1,6 +1 @@
-# coding:utf-8
-RAKE_ROOT = __FILE__
-
-GEM_NAME = ENV['NAME'] || 'middleman-core'
-
-require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../gem_rake_helper')
+require_relative '../gem_rake_helper'
diff --git a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core.rb b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core.rb
index 8170fefb..5a1e7294 100644
--- a/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core.rb
+++ b/middleman-core/lib/middleman-core.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 # rubocop:disable FileName
 
-# Setup our load paths
-libdir = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__))
-$LOAD_PATH.unshift(libdir) unless $LOAD_PATH.include?(libdir)
-
 # Top-level Middleman namespace
 module Middleman
   # Backwards compatibility namespace
diff --git a/middleman-core/middleman-core.gemspec b/middleman-core/middleman-core.gemspec
index 844e6de9..7c5d6d0b 100644
--- a/middleman-core/middleman-core.gemspec
+++ b/middleman-core/middleman-core.gemspec
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
-require File.expand_path("../lib/middleman-core/version", __FILE__)
+lib = File.expand_path("../lib", __FILE__)
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift(lib) unless $LOAD_PATH.include?(lib)
+
+require "middleman-core/version"
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name        = "middleman-core"
diff --git a/middleman/.gemtest b/middleman/.gemtest
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/middleman/Rakefile b/middleman/Rakefile
index 120b9c7c..a093ee44 100644
--- a/middleman/Rakefile
+++ b/middleman/Rakefile
@@ -1,5 +1 @@
-# coding:utf-8
-RAKE_ROOT = __FILE__
-
-GEM_NAME = 'middleman'
-require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../gem_rake_helper')
+require_relative '../gem_rake_helper'
diff --git a/middleman/features/.gitkeep b/middleman/features/.gitkeep
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/middleman/fixtures/.gitkeep b/middleman/fixtures/.gitkeep
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/middleman/middleman.gemspec b/middleman/middleman.gemspec
index 11e4e871..b34ebfbb 100644
--- a/middleman/middleman.gemspec
+++ b/middleman/middleman.gemspec
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
-$:.push File.expand_path("../lib", __FILE__)
-require File.expand_path("../../middleman-core/lib/middleman-core/version.rb", __FILE__)
+lib = File.expand_path('../lib', __FILE__)
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift(lib) unless $LOAD_PATH.include?(lib)
+
+require "middleman-core/version"
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name        = "middleman"
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.description = "A static site generator. Provides dozens of templating languages (Haml, Sass, Compass, Slim, CoffeeScript, and more). Makes minification, compression, cache busting, Yaml data (and more) an easy part of your development cycle."
 
   s.files         = `git ls-files -z`.split("\0")
-  s.test_files    = `git ls-files -z -- {fixtures,features}/*`.split("\0")
   s.require_paths = ["lib"]
   s.required_ruby_version = '>= 1.9.3'
 
diff --git a/middleman/spec/middleman/future_spec.rb b/middleman/spec/middleman/future_spec.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/middleman/spec/spec_helper.rb b/middleman/spec/spec_helper.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000