diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 5b256cc7e..a1cade7c3 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 = Rake Changelog
 
-== Pre-Version 0.7.4
+== Version 0.8.1
+
+* Removed requires on parsedate.rb (in Ftptools)
+* Removed ftools from rake.rb.  Made it options in sys.rb
+
+== Version 0.8.0
 
 * Added task parameters (e.g. "rake build[version7]")
 * Made task parameters passable to prerequisites.
diff --git a/lib/rake.rb b/lib/rake.rb
index 799a1b2d8..3fe70d4bb 100755
--- a/lib/rake.rb
+++ b/lib/rake.rb
@@ -29,10 +29,9 @@
 # as a library via a require statement, but it can be distributed
 # independently as an application.
 
-RAKEVERSION = '0.8.0'
+RAKEVERSION = '0.8.1'
 
 require 'rbconfig'
-require 'ftools'
 require 'getoptlong'
 require 'fileutils'
 require 'singleton'
diff --git a/lib/rake/contrib/ftptools.rb b/lib/rake/contrib/ftptools.rb
index 1d0923345..4cd02f3ec 100644
--- a/lib/rake/contrib/ftptools.rb
+++ b/lib/rake/contrib/ftptools.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 # use.
 
 require 'date'
-require 'parsedate'
 require 'net/ftp'
 
 module Rake # :nodoc:
@@ -20,6 +19,10 @@ def self.date
       @date_class ||= Date
     end
 
+    def self.time
+      @time_class ||= Time
+    end
+
     def initialize(path, entry)
       @path = path
       @mode, line, @owner, @group, size, d1, d2, d3, @name = entry.split(' ')
@@ -54,17 +57,28 @@ def parse_mode(m)
     end
 
     def determine_time(d1, d2, d3)
-      elements = ParseDate.parsedate("#{d1} #{d2} #{d3}")
-      if elements[0].nil?
-        today = self.class.date.today
-        if elements[1] > today.month
-          elements[0] = today.year - 1
-        else
-          elements[0] = today.year
+      now = self.class.time.now
+      if /:/ =~ d3
+        h, m = d3.split(':')
+        result = Time.parse("#{d1} #{d2} #{now.year} #{d3}")
+        if result > now
+          result = Time.parse("#{d1} #{d2} #{now.year-1} #{d3}")
         end
+      else
+        result = Time.parse("#{d1} #{d2} #{d3}")
       end
-      elements = elements.collect { |el| el.nil? ? 0 : el }
-      Time.mktime(*elements[0,7])
+      result
+#       elements = ParseDate.parsedate("#{d1} #{d2} #{d3}")
+#       if elements[0].nil?
+#         today = self.class.date.today
+#         if elements[1] > today.month
+#           elements[0] = today.year - 1
+#         else
+#           elements[0] = today.year
+#         end
+#       end
+#       elements = elements.collect { |el| el.nil? ? 0 : el }
+#       Time.mktime(*elements[0,7])
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/rake/contrib/sys.rb b/lib/rake/contrib/sys.rb
index 668484c3c..06ac9e967 100644
--- a/lib/rake/contrib/sys.rb
+++ b/lib/rake/contrib/sys.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@
 # WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 #++
 #
-require 'ftools'
+begin
+  require 'ftools'
+rescue LoadError
+end
 require 'rbconfig'
 
 ######################################################################
diff --git a/rakelib/ruby19.rake b/rakelib/ruby19.rake
index 0b64bc5ad..074d98989 100644
--- a/rakelib/ruby19.rake
+++ b/rakelib/ruby19.rake
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module Ruby19
   PROG = '/Users/jim/local/ruby19/bin/ruby'
-  GEM_HOME = '/Users/jim/local/ruby19/lib/ruby/gems/1.9'
+  GEM_HOME = '/Users/jim/local/ruby19.gems'
 
   RELEASE_FILES = FileList['bin/rake', 'lib/rake.rb', 'lib/rake/**/*']
   RELEASE_FILES.exclude('lib/rake/lib', 'project.rake', 'lib/rake/plugins', 'lib/rake/contrib')
diff --git a/test/filecreation.rb b/test/filecreation.rb
index cf1ba66aa..7a8bc8783 100644
--- a/test/filecreation.rb
+++ b/test/filecreation.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
-require 'ftools'
-
 module FileCreation
   OLDFILE = "testdata/old"
   NEWFILE = "testdata/new"
diff --git a/test/test_ftp.rb b/test/test_ftp.rb
index cb25627ac..15765900c 100644
--- a/test/test_ftp.rb
+++ b/test/test_ftp.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
 require 'date'
+require 'time'
 require 'test/unit'
 require 'rake/contrib/ftptools'
 
@@ -8,13 +9,16 @@ class FakeDate
   def self.today
     Date.new(2003,10,3)
   end
+  def self.now
+    Time.local(2003,10,3,12,00,00)
+  end
 end
 
 
 class TestFtpFile < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
   def setup
-    Rake::FtpFile.class_eval { @date_class = FakeDate }
+    Rake::FtpFile.class_eval { @date_class = FakeDate; @time_class = FakeDate }
   end
 
   def test_general
diff --git a/test/test_rules.rb b/test/test_rules.rb
index 53efe283a..f7c68e2ec 100644
--- a/test/test_rules.rb
+++ b/test/test_rules.rb
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ def test_second_rule_doest_run_if_first_triggers_with_reversed_rules
 
   def test_rule_with_proc_dependent_will_trigger
     ran = false
-    File.makedirs("testdata/src/jw")
+    mkdir_p("testdata/src/jw")
     create_file("testdata/src/jw/X.java")
     rule %r(classes/.*\.class) => [
       proc { |fn| fn.pathmap("%{classes,testdata/src}d/%n.java") }
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ def test_rule_with_proc_dependent_will_trigger
 
   def test_proc_returning_lists_are_flattened_into_prereqs
     ran = false
-    File.makedirs("testdata/flatten")
+    mkdir_p("testdata/flatten")
     create_file("testdata/flatten/a.txt")
     task 'testdata/flatten/b.data' do |t|
       ran = true