diff --git a/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake b/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake
index c7df6a7de3b7d..efe411d46bf15 100644
--- a/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake
+++ b/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ elseif (APPLE)
     BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH TRUE
     INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH FALSE)
 else()
-  target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_pybind11_state ${onnxruntime_pybind11_state_libs} ${PYTHON_LIBRARY} ${ONNXRUNTIME_SO_LINK_FLAG} debug ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_LIBRARIES_DEBUG} optimized ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_LIBRARIES})
+  target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE ${onnxruntime_pybind11_state_libs} ${PYTHON_LIBRARY} ${ONNXRUNTIME_SO_LINK_FLAG} debug ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_LIBRARIES_DEBUG} optimized ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_LIBRARIES})
   set_target_properties(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PROPERTIES LINK_FLAGS "-Xlinker -rpath=\$ORIGIN")
 endif()
 
diff --git a/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_validation.py b/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_validation.py
index b337395d87c0a..7350fe6655bac 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_validation.py
+++ b/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_validation.py
@@ -47,9 +47,6 @@ def check_distro_info():
         # warn the user ONNX Runtime may not work out of the box
         __my_distro__ = __my_distro__.lower()
         __my_distro_ver__ = __my_distro_ver__.lower()
-
-        if __my_distro__ != 'ubuntu' and __my_distro_ver__ != '16.04':
-            warnings.warn('Unsupported Linux distribution (%s-%s). ONNX Runtime supports Ubuntu 16.04 only.' % (__my_distro__, __my_distro_ver__))
     elif __my_system__ == 'darwin':
         __my_distro__ = __my_system__
         __my_distro_ver__ = platform.release().lower()
diff --git a/tools/ci_build/build.py b/tools/ci_build/build.py
index 6f66e07a3416d..e420f516e0cc5 100755
--- a/tools/ci_build/build.py
+++ b/tools/ci_build/build.py
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ def parse_arguments():
     # Python bindings
     parser.add_argument("--enable_pybind", action='store_true', help="Enable Python Bindings.")
     parser.add_argument("--build_wheel", action='store_true', help="Build Python Wheel. ")
+    parser.add_argument("--numpy_version", default='1.15.0', help="Installs a specific version of numpy "
+                        "before building the python binding.")
+    parser.add_argument("--skip-keras-test", action='store_true', help="Skip tests with Keras if keras is installed")
 
     # C-Sharp bindings
     parser.add_argument("--build_csharp", action='store_true', help="Build C#.Net DLL and NuGet package")
@@ -195,8 +198,9 @@ def install_ubuntu_deps(args):
         except Exception as e:
             raise BuildError("Error setting up required APT packages. {}".format(str(e)))
 
-def install_python_deps():
-    dep_packages = ['setuptools', 'wheel', 'numpy==1.15.0']
+def install_python_deps(numpy_version=""):
+    dep_packages = ['setuptools', 'wheel']
+    dep_packages.append('numpy==%s' % numpy_version if numpy_version else 'numpy')
     run_subprocess([sys.executable, '-m', 'pip', 'install', '--trusted-host', 'files.pythonhosted.org'] + dep_packages)
 
 def check_md5(filename, expected_md5):
@@ -465,15 +469,16 @@ def run_onnxruntime_tests(args, source_dir, ctest_path, build_dir, configs, enab
                 run_subprocess([os.path.join(cwd,'onnx_test_runner'), 'test_models'], cwd=cwd)
                 if config != 'Debug':
                     run_subprocess([sys.executable, 'onnx_backend_test_series.py'], cwd=cwd, dll_path=dll_path)
-            try:
-                import onnxmltools
-                import keras
-                onnxml_test = True
-            except ImportError:
-                warnings.warn("onnxmltools and keras are not installed. Following test cannot be run.")
-                onnxml_test = False
-            if onnxml_test:
-                run_subprocess([sys.executable, 'onnxruntime_test_python_keras.py'], cwd=cwd, dll_path=dll_path)
+            if not args.skip_keras_test:
+                try:
+                    import onnxmltools
+                    import keras
+                    onnxml_test = True
+                except ImportError:
+                    warnings.warn("onnxmltools and keras are not installed. Following test cannot be run.")
+                    onnxml_test = False
+                if onnxml_test:
+                    run_subprocess([sys.executable, 'onnxruntime_test_python_keras.py'], cwd=cwd, dll_path=dll_path)
 
 def run_onnx_tests(build_dir, configs, onnx_test_data_dir, provider, enable_parallel_executor_test, num_parallel_models):
     for config in configs:
@@ -570,7 +575,7 @@ def main():
             if not is_docker():
                 install_python_deps()
         if (args.enable_pybind and is_windows()):
-            install_python_deps()
+            install_python_deps(args.numpy_version)
         if (not args.skip_submodule_sync):
             update_submodules(source_dir)