diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index b963c80..05bd8a8 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -12,20 +12,33 @@ def location_for(place, fake_version = nil)
   end
 end
 
-# in the Rakefile, so we require it in all groups
-rake_version = '>= 0.9.0'
-if ENV['RAKE_VER']
-  rake_version = "~> #{ENV['RAKE_VER']}"
-end
-gem 'rake'                   , "#{rake_version}"
+# unit tests: --without system_tests development
+gem 'rake'
 gem "rototiller", *location_for(ENV['TILLER_VERSION'] || '~> 0.1.0')
 gem 'rspec'                  ,'~> 3.4.0'
 
 group :system_tests do
-  gem 'beaker'               ,'~> 3.0'
+  beaker_version     = '~> 3.0'
+  nokogiri_version   = '~> 1' # any
+  public_suffix_version = '~> 1' # any
+  activesupport_version = '~> 1' # any
+  # restrict gems to enable ruby versions
+  #
+  #   nokogiri comes along for the ride but needs some restriction too
+  if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION).between?(Gem::Version.new('2.0.0'),Gem::Version.new('2.2.4'))
+    beaker_version   = '<  3.9.0'
+    nokogiri_version = '<  1.7.0'
+  elsif Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION) < Gem::Version.new('2.0.0')
+    beaker_version   = '~> 2.0'
+    nokogiri_version = '<  1.7.0'
+    public_suffix_version = '<  1.5.0'
+    activesupport_version = '<  5.0.0'
+  end
+  gem 'beaker'               ,"#{beaker_version}"
   gem 'beaker-hostgenerator'
-  gem 'public_suffix'        ,'<= 1.4.6'
-  gem 'nokogiri'             ,'<= 1.6.9'
+  gem 'nokogiri'             ,"#{nokogiri_version}"
+  gem 'public_suffix'        ,"#{public_suffix_version}"
+  gem 'activesupport'        ,"#{activesupport_version}"
 end
 
 group :development do
@@ -33,14 +46,6 @@ group :development do
   #Documentation dependencies
   gem 'yard'                 ,'~> 0'
   gem 'markdown'             ,'~> 0'
-  # restrict version to enable ruby 1.9.3
-  gem 'mime-types'           ,'~> 2.0'
-  gem 'google-api-client'    ,'<= 0.9.4'
-  gem 'activesupport'        ,'<  5.0.0'
-  # restrict version to enable ruby 1.9.3 <-> 2.0.0
-  if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION) < Gem::Version.new('2.0.0')
-    gem 'public_suffix'      ,'<= 1.4.6'
-  end
 end
 
 local_gemfile = "#{__FILE__}.local"
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index b2f8359..0e6c87a 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-require "bundler/gem_tasks"
 require 'rspec/core/rake_task'
 require 'fileutils'
 require 'rototiller'
@@ -23,11 +22,13 @@ task :generate_host_config do |t, args|
   sh "cat acceptance/hosts.cfg"
 end
 
+default_rake_ver = '11.0'
+
 rototiller_task :acceptance => [:generate_host_config] do |t|
   t.add_env({:name => 'LAYOUT',   :default => 'centos7-64',
              :message => 'The argument to pass to beaker-hostgenerator',
              :set_env => true})
-  t.add_env({:name => 'RAKE_VER', :default => '12.0',
+  t.add_env({:name => 'RAKE_VER', :default => default_rake_ver,
              :message => 'The rake version to use when running unit and acceptance tests',
              :set_env => true})
 
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ end
 
 rototiller_task :check_test do |t|
   t.add_env({:name => 'SPEC_PATTERN', :default => 'spec/', :message => 'The pattern RSpec will use to find tests', :set_env => true})
-  t.add_env({:name => 'RAKE_VER',     :default => '11.0',  :message => 'The rake version to use when running unit tests', :set_env => true})
+  t.add_env({:name => 'RAKE_VER',     :default => default_rake_ver,  :message => 'The rake version to use when running unit tests', :set_env => true})
 end
 
 task :yard => [:'docs:gen']
diff --git a/acceptance/lib/test_utilities.rb b/acceptance/lib/test_utilities.rb
index 5447836..4a8c026 100644
--- a/acceptance/lib/test_utilities.rb
+++ b/acceptance/lib/test_utilities.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def execute_task_on(host, task_name=nil, rakefile_path=nil, opts={})
       step "Execute task '#{task_name}', ensure success"
     end
 
-    command = "bundle exec rake #{task_name}"
+    command = "rake #{task_name}"
     command = command + " --verbose" if opts[:verbose]
     command = command + " --rakefile #{rakefile_path}" if rakefile_path
     on(host, command, :accept_all_exit_codes => true) do |result|
diff --git a/acceptance/pre-suite/01_install_rototiller.rb b/acceptance/pre-suite/01_install_rototiller.rb
index 866b384..2787520 100644
--- a/acceptance/pre-suite/01_install_rototiller.rb
+++ b/acceptance/pre-suite/01_install_rototiller.rb
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@
   scp_to(sut, gem_name, gem_name)
 
   if ENV['RAKE_VER']
-    on(sut, "gem install rake --no-document --version #{ENV['RAKE_VER']}")
+    rake_version = Gem::Version.new(ENV['RAKE_VER']).approximate_recommendation
+    on(sut, "gem install rake --force --version '#{rake_version}'")
   else
-    on(sut, "gem install --no-document rake")
+    on(sut, "gem install rake --force")
   end
-  on(sut, "gem install --no-document ./#{gem_name}")
+
+  on(sut, "gem install ./#{gem_name}")
 end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/define_and_list_RototillerTasks.rb b/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/define_and_list_RototillerTasks.rb
index e022c4f..9c7d601 100644
--- a/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/define_and_list_RototillerTasks.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/define_and_list_RototillerTasks.rb
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def create_rakefile_task_segment(options)
 
   tasks.each do |task|
     step "Use the -T rake switch to test task '#{task[:task_name]}' description" do
-      on(sut, "bundle exec rake -T --rakefile #{rakefile_path}", :accept_all_exit_codes => true) do |result|
+      on(sut, "rake -T --rakefile #{rakefile_path}", :accept_all_exit_codes => true) do |result|
         assert(result.exit_code == 0, 'The expected exit code 0 was not observed')
         assert_no_match(/error/i, result.output, 'An unexpected error was observed')
         if task[:description]
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/environment_variables.rb b/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/environment_variables.rb
index 86a6868..5d0bc8e 100644
--- a/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/environment_variables.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/rototillerTask/environment_variables.rb
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     rakefile_path = create_rakefile_on(sut, rakefile_contents)
 
     step 'Execute task defined in rake task' do
-      on(sut, "bundle exec rake #{@task_name} --rakefile #{rakefile_path}", :accept_all_exit_codes => true) do |result|
+      on(sut, "rake #{@task_name} --rakefile #{rakefile_path}", :accept_all_exit_codes => true) do |result|
         # exit code & no error in output
         assert(result.exit_code == 1, 'The expected exit code 1 was not observed')
 
diff --git a/rototiller.gemspec b/rototiller.gemspec
index 0dcb9b6..c1e7257 100644
--- a/rototiller.gemspec
+++ b/rototiller.gemspec
@@ -17,5 +17,5 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
 
   # RAKE_VER=0.9, 10.0, 11.0
   #   don't use 11.0.0, which probably installs 11.0.1 which has issues
-  s.add_runtime_dependency 'rake'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency 'rake', '< 12.0.0'
 end