diff --git a/.scrutinizer.yml b/.scrutinizer.yml
index 5938f14c..c432d775 100644
--- a/.scrutinizer.yml
+++ b/.scrutinizer.yml
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ build:
       - pip install -r req-scrutinizer.txt
   tests:
     override:
-      - flake8 --filename=* bin
+      - flake8 --filename='blocks-continue' bin
       - flake8 blocks doctests tests
-      - pep257 bin --numpy --ignore=D100,D101,D102,D103 --match='.*'
+      - pep257 bin --numpy --ignore=D100,D101,D102,D103 --match='blocks-continue'
       - pep257 blocks --numpy --ignore=D100,D101,D102,D103
       - pep257 doctests tests --numpy --ignore=D100,D101,D102,D103 --match='.*\.py'
 checks:
@@ -157,4 +157,4 @@ checks:
 filter:
     paths:
         - blocks/*
-        - bin/*
+        - bin/blocks-continue
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 20ed1828..3afd1d00 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -13,17 +13,17 @@ matrix:
       env: TESTS=blocks FLOATX=float32
     - python: 2.7
       env: TESTS=blocks FLOATX=float32 DB=sqlite
-    - python: 3.4
+    - python: 3.5
       env: TESTS=blocks FLOATX=float64
     - python: 2.7
       env: TESTS=blocks-examples FLOATX=float32
     - python: 2.7
       env: TESTS=blocks-examples FLOATX=float32 DB=sqlite
-    - python: 3.4
+    - python: 3.5
       env: TESTS=blocks-examples FLOATX=float64
     - python: 2.7
       env: TESTS=documentation FLOATX=float32
-    - python: 3.4
+    - python: 3.5
       env: TESTS=documentation FLOATX=float64
 before_install:
   - # Setup Python environment with BLAS libraries
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ before_install:
   - export PATH=$HOME/miniconda/bin:$PATH
   - conda update -q --yes conda
   - export FUEL_DATA_PATH=$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/data
+  - export MKL_THREADING_LAYER=GNU # For Theano
 install:
   # Install all Python dependencies
   - conda install -q --yes python=$TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION --file req-travis-conda.txt
diff --git a/blocks/bricks/__init__.py b/blocks/bricks/__init__.py
index d8d9b170..d8d98f95 100644
--- a/blocks/bricks/__init__.py
+++ b/blocks/bricks/__init__.py
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
 from .interfaces import (Activation, Feedforward, Initializable, LinearLike,
                          Random)
 from .recurrent import (BaseRecurrent, SimpleRecurrent, LSTM, GatedRecurrent,
-                        Bidirectional, RecurrentStack, RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR,
-                        recurrent)
+                        Bidirectional, RecurrentStack,
+                        RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR, recurrent)
 from .simple import (Linear, Bias, Maxout, LinearMaxout, Identity, Tanh,
                      Logistic, Softplus, Rectifier, LeakyRectifier,
                      Softmax, NDimensionalSoftmax)
diff --git a/blocks/bricks/base.py b/blocks/bricks/base.py
index eb470c96..a7a41908 100644
--- a/blocks/bricks/base.py
+++ b/blocks/bricks/base.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ def create_unbound_method(func, cls):
     if six.PY3:
         return func
 
+
 # Rename built-in property to avoid conflict with Application.property
 property_ = property
 
@@ -806,6 +807,7 @@ def __bool__(self):
 
     __nonzero__ = __bool__
 
+
 NoneAllocation = LazyNone('NoneAllocation')
 NoneInitialization = LazyNone('NoneInitialization')
 
diff --git a/blocks/bricks/recurrent/__init__.py b/blocks/bricks/recurrent/__init__.py
index 08894a7f..d215ec26 100644
--- a/blocks/bricks/recurrent/__init__.py
+++ b/blocks/bricks/recurrent/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
 from .base import BaseRecurrent, recurrent
 from .architectures import SimpleRecurrent, LSTM, GatedRecurrent
 from .misc import Bidirectional, RecurrentStack, RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR
+
+
+__all__ = ("BaseRecurrent", "recurrent", "SimpleRecurrent", "LSTM",
+           "GatedRecurrent", "Bidirectional", "RecurrentStack",
+           "RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR")
diff --git a/blocks/bricks/recurrent/misc.py b/blocks/bricks/recurrent/misc.py
index c9a53944..b41e44e6 100644
--- a/blocks/bricks/recurrent/misc.py
+++ b/blocks/bricks/recurrent/misc.py
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ def get_dim(self, name):
             return self.prototype.get_dim(name) * 2
         return self.prototype.get_dim(name)
 
+
 RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR = '#'
 
 
diff --git a/blocks/bricks/simple.py b/blocks/bricks/simple.py
index 1243d3ea..8c8ea8bd 100644
--- a/blocks/bricks/simple.py
+++ b/blocks/bricks/simple.py
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ def apply(self, input_):
 
 
 class LeakyRectifier(Activation):
-    r"""Leaky ReLU
+    r"""Leaky ReLU.
 
     Like Rectifier, but inputs are scaled by small constant for negative
     inputs.
diff --git a/blocks/filter.py b/blocks/filter.py
index cfda8068..9d0f5aa1 100644
--- a/blocks/filter.py
+++ b/blocks/filter.py
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ class VariableFilter(object):
         A regular expression for the variable name. The Theano name (i.e.
         `x.name`) is used.
     call_id : str, optional
-        The call identifier as written in :class:`.ApplicationCall` metadata
-        attribute.
+        The call identifier as written in :class:`.ApplicationCall`
+        metadata attribute.
     applications : list of :class:`.Application`
                    or :class:`.BoundApplication`, optional
         Matches a variable that was produced by any of the applications
diff --git a/blocks/monitoring/aggregation.py b/blocks/monitoring/aggregation.py
index b2176f39..68874c72 100644
--- a/blocks/monitoring/aggregation.py
+++ b/blocks/monitoring/aggregation.py
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ def get_aggregator(self):
         return self._build_aggregator(tensor.minimum(self.storage,
                                                      self.variable))
 
+
 minimum = partial(_simple_aggregation, Minimum)
 
 
@@ -227,6 +228,7 @@ def get_aggregator(self):
         return self._build_aggregator(tensor.maximum(self.storage,
                                                      self.variable))
 
+
 maximum = partial(_simple_aggregation, Maximum)
 
 
@@ -251,6 +253,7 @@ def get_aggregator(self):
         return self._build_aggregator(tensor.concatenate([self.storage,
                                                           self.variable]))
 
+
 concatenate = partial(_simple_aggregation, Concatenate)
 
 
diff --git a/blocks/roles.py b/blocks/roles.py
index e7facca7..85e5c858 100644
--- a/blocks/roles.py
+++ b/blocks/roles.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ def __repr__(self):
 class InputRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: The input of a :class:`~.bricks.Brick`
 INPUT = InputRole()
 
@@ -82,6 +83,7 @@ class InputRole(VariableRole):
 class OutputRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: The output of a :class:`~.bricks.Brick`
 OUTPUT = OutputRole()
 
@@ -89,6 +91,7 @@ class OutputRole(VariableRole):
 class CostRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: A scalar cost that can be used to train or regularize
 COST = CostRole()
 
@@ -96,6 +99,7 @@ class CostRole(VariableRole):
 class PersistentRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 # Any persistent quantity that should be saved as part of the model
 PERSISTENT = PersistentRole()
 
@@ -103,6 +107,7 @@ class PersistentRole(VariableRole):
 class ParameterRole(PersistentRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: A parameter of the model
 PARAMETER = ParameterRole()
 
@@ -110,6 +115,7 @@ class ParameterRole(PersistentRole):
 class AuxiliaryRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: Variables added to the graph as annotations
 AUXILIARY = AuxiliaryRole()
 
@@ -117,6 +123,7 @@ class AuxiliaryRole(VariableRole):
 class WeightRole(ParameterRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: The weight matrices of linear transformations
 WEIGHT = WeightRole()
 
@@ -124,6 +131,7 @@ class WeightRole(ParameterRole):
 class BiasRole(ParameterRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: Biases of linear transformations
 BIAS = BiasRole()
 
@@ -131,6 +139,7 @@ class BiasRole(ParameterRole):
 class InitialStateRole(ParameterRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: Initial state of a recurrent network
 INITIAL_STATE = InitialStateRole()
 
@@ -138,6 +147,7 @@ class InitialStateRole(ParameterRole):
 class FilterRole(WeightRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: The filters (kernels) of a convolution operation
 FILTER = FilterRole()
 
@@ -145,6 +155,7 @@ class FilterRole(WeightRole):
 class DropoutRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: Inputs with applied dropout
 DROPOUT = DropoutRole()
 
@@ -152,6 +163,7 @@ class DropoutRole(VariableRole):
 class CollectedRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: The replacement of a variable collected into a single shared variable
 COLLECTED = CollectedRole()
 
@@ -159,6 +171,7 @@ class CollectedRole(VariableRole):
 class CollectorRole(ParameterRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: A collection of parameters combined into a single shared variable
 COLLECTOR = CollectorRole()
 
@@ -166,6 +179,7 @@ class CollectorRole(ParameterRole):
 class AlgorithmStateRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: Shared variables used in algorithms updates
 ALGORITHM_STATE = AlgorithmStateRole()
 
@@ -173,6 +187,7 @@ class AlgorithmStateRole(VariableRole):
 class AlgorithmHyperparameterRole(AlgorithmStateRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: hyperparameters accociated with algorithms
 ALGORITHM_HYPERPARAMETER = AlgorithmHyperparameterRole()
 
@@ -180,6 +195,7 @@ class AlgorithmHyperparameterRole(AlgorithmStateRole):
 class AlgorithmBufferRole(AlgorithmStateRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: buffers accociated with algorithms
 ALGORITHM_BUFFER = AlgorithmBufferRole()
 
@@ -187,6 +203,7 @@ class AlgorithmBufferRole(AlgorithmStateRole):
 class BatchNormPopulationStatisticsRole(PersistentRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: base role for batch normalization population statistics
 BATCH_NORM_POPULATION_STATISTICS = BatchNormPopulationStatisticsRole()
 
@@ -194,6 +211,7 @@ class BatchNormPopulationStatisticsRole(PersistentRole):
 class BatchNormPopulationMeanRole(BatchNormPopulationStatisticsRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: mean activations accumulated over the dataset
 BATCH_NORM_POPULATION_MEAN = BatchNormPopulationMeanRole()
 
@@ -201,6 +219,7 @@ class BatchNormPopulationMeanRole(BatchNormPopulationStatisticsRole):
 class BatchNormPopulationStdevRole(BatchNormPopulationStatisticsRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: standard deviations of activations accumulated over the dataset
 BATCH_NORM_POPULATION_STDEV = BatchNormPopulationStdevRole()
 
@@ -208,6 +227,7 @@ class BatchNormPopulationStdevRole(BatchNormPopulationStatisticsRole):
 class BatchNormGraphVariableRole(VariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: base for roles used for within-graph batch normalization replacement
 BATCH_NORM_GRAPH_VARIABLE = BatchNormGraphVariableRole()
 
@@ -215,6 +235,7 @@ class BatchNormGraphVariableRole(VariableRole):
 class BatchNormOffsetRole(BatchNormGraphVariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: offset applied in a BatchNormalization application (or its
 #  batch-normalized replacement)
 BATCH_NORM_OFFSET = BatchNormOffsetRole()
@@ -223,6 +244,7 @@ class BatchNormOffsetRole(BatchNormGraphVariableRole):
 class BatchNormDivisorRole(BatchNormGraphVariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: divisor applied in a BatchNormalization application (or its
 #  batch-normalized replacement)
 BATCH_NORM_DIVISOR = BatchNormDivisorRole()
@@ -231,6 +253,7 @@ class BatchNormDivisorRole(BatchNormGraphVariableRole):
 class BatchNormMinibatchEstimateRole(BatchNormGraphVariableRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: role added to variables that are the result of a batch normalization
 #  replacement, rather than the original population statistics variables.
 BATCH_NORM_MINIBATCH_ESTIMATE = BatchNormMinibatchEstimateRole()
@@ -239,6 +262,7 @@ class BatchNormMinibatchEstimateRole(BatchNormGraphVariableRole):
 class BatchNormScaleParameterRole(ParameterRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: role given to the scale parameter, referred to as "scale" in the
 # batch normalization manuscript, applied after normalizing.
 BATCH_NORM_SCALE_PARAMETER = BatchNormScaleParameterRole()
@@ -247,6 +271,7 @@ class BatchNormScaleParameterRole(ParameterRole):
 class BatchNormShiftParameterRole(BiasRole):
     pass
 
+
 #: role given to the shift parameter, referred to as "beta" in the
 # batch normalization manuscript, applied after normalizing and scaling.
 # Inherits from BIAS, because there really is no functional difference
diff --git a/blocks/serialization.py b/blocks/serialization.py
index bd948b1f..2113ab48 100644
--- a/blocks/serialization.py
+++ b/blocks/serialization.py
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ def secure_dump(object_, path, dump_function=dump, **kwargs):
         logger.debug("Moving the temporary file")
         shutil.move(temp.name, path)
         logger.debug("Dump finished")
-    except:
+    except:  # noqa: E722
         if "temp" in locals():
             os.remove(temp.name)
         raise
@@ -564,6 +564,7 @@ def _recreate_pygpu_array(context_name, content):
     context = theano.gpuarray.get_context(context_name)
     return pygpu.gpuarray.array(content, context=context)
 
+
 _ARRAY_TYPE_MAP = {numpy.ndarray: 'numpy_ndarray'}
 _INVERSE_ARRAY_TYPE_MAP = {'numpy_ndarray': _recreate_numpy_ndarray}
 if cuda_ndarray:
diff --git a/blocks/utils/__init__.py b/blocks/utils/__init__.py
index a9f28ae0..b85ecf54 100644
--- a/blocks/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/blocks/utils/__init__.py
@@ -10,13 +10,15 @@
 
 
 class UtilsModule(ModuleType):
-    utils_attrs = ("pack", "unpack", "reraise_as", "dict_subset", "dict_union",
-                   "repr_attrs", "ipdb_breakpoint", "print_sum", "print_shape",
-                   "change_recursion_limit", "extract_args", "find_bricks")
-    theano_utils_attrs = ("shared_floatx_zeros_matching", "shared_floatx_zeros",
-                          "shared_floatx_nans", "shared_floatx", "shared_like",
-                          "check_theano_variable", "is_graph_input",
-                          "is_shared_variable", "put_hook")
+    utils_attrs = (
+        "pack", "unpack", "reraise_as", "dict_subset", "dict_union",
+        "repr_attrs", "ipdb_breakpoint", "print_sum", "print_shape",
+        "change_recursion_limit", "extract_args", "find_bricks")
+    theano_utils_attrs = (
+        "shared_floatx_zeros_matching", "shared_floatx_zeros",
+        "shared_floatx_nans", "shared_floatx", "shared_like",
+        "check_theano_variable", "is_graph_input",
+        "is_shared_variable", "put_hook")
     __all__ = utils_attrs + theano_utils_attrs
     __doc__ = __doc__
     __file__ = __file__
diff --git a/blocks/utils/utils.py b/blocks/utils/utils.py
index b6687101..41343c22 100644
--- a/blocks/utils/utils.py
+++ b/blocks/utils/utils.py
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 import contextlib
 from collections import OrderedDict, deque
 
-import numpy
+# for documentation
+import numpy  # noqa: F401
 
 
 def pack(arg):
@@ -362,4 +363,3 @@ def find_bricks(top_bricks, predicate):
                 found.append(current)
             to_visit.extend(current.children)
     return found
-
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index b75f074e..9fea5665 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -63,11 +63,13 @@
     'python': ('http://docs.python.org/3.4', None)
 }
 
+
 class Mock(MagicMock):
     @classmethod
     def __getattr__(cls, name):
             return Mock()
 
+
 MOCK_MODULES = ['fuel']
 sys.modules.update((mod_name, Mock()) for mod_name in MOCK_MODULES)
 
diff --git a/doctests/__init__.py b/doctests/__init__.py
index fd4c8a70..8621f817 100644
--- a/doctests/__init__.py
+++ b/doctests/__init__.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ def load_tests(loader, tests, ignore):
             tests.addTests(doctest.DocTestSuite(
                 module=importlib.import_module(module), setUp=setup,
                 optionflags=doctest.IGNORE_EXCEPTION_DETAIL))
-        except:
+        except:  # noqa: E722
             pass
 
     # This part loads the doctests from the documentation
diff --git a/req-rtd.txt b/req-rtd.txt
index fad70ead..86886e5a 100644
--- a/req-rtd.txt
+++ b/req-rtd.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,4 @@ progressbar2==3.10.0
 pyyaml==3.11
 six==1.10.0
 toolz==0.8.0
-
---allow-external theano
---allow-unverified theano
 git+https://github.com/Theano/Theano.git#egg=theano
diff --git a/req-scrutinizer.txt b/req-scrutinizer.txt
index ddbc40c8..fdc9baa0 100644
--- a/req-scrutinizer.txt
+++ b/req-scrutinizer.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,2 @@
 flake8==2.3.0  # rq.filter: <2.4.0
-
---allow-external pep257
---allow-unverified pep257
 git+https://github.com/bartvm/pep257.git@numpy#egg=pep257
diff --git a/req-travis-pip.txt b/req-travis-pip.txt
index 75de0262..c7cf3f80 100644
--- a/req-travis-pip.txt
+++ b/req-travis-pip.txt
@@ -2,11 +2,5 @@ coveralls==1.1
 nose2[coverage_plugin]==0.6.5
 picklable-itertools==0.1.1
 progressbar2==3.10.0
-
---allow-external theano
---allow-unverified theano
 git+https://github.com/Theano/Theano.git#egg=theano
-
---allow-external fuel
---allow-unverified fuel
 git+https://github.com/mila-udem/fuel#egg=fuel
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index b369b5cc..95b1f2ad 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,11 +4,5 @@ progressbar2==3.10.0
 pyyaml==3.11
 six==1.10.0
 toolz==0.8.0
-
---allow-external theano
---allow-unverified theano
 git+https://github.com/Theano/Theano.git#egg=theano
-
---allow-external fuel
---allow-unverified fuel
 git+https://github.com/mila-udem/fuel#egg=fuel
diff --git a/tests/algorithms/test_algorithms.py b/tests/algorithms/test_algorithms.py
index 3764a370..d898294d 100644
--- a/tests/algorithms/test_algorithms.py
+++ b/tests/algorithms/test_algorithms.py
@@ -186,8 +186,8 @@ def test_gradient_descent_spurious_sources():
     algorithm = GradientDescent(cost=cost, parameters=[W])
     algorithm.step_rule.learning_rate.set_value(0.75)
     algorithm.initialize()
-    assert_raises(lambda:
-                  algorithm.process_batch(dict(example_id='test')))
+    with assert_raises(ValueError):
+        algorithm.process_batch(dict(example_id='test'))
 
     algorithm = GradientDescent(cost=cost, parameters=[W],
                                 on_unused_sources='ignore')
diff --git a/tests/bricks/test_recurrent.py b/tests/bricks/test_recurrent.py
index 0cf3f4ad..c15d18f8 100644
--- a/tests/bricks/test_recurrent.py
+++ b/tests/bricks/test_recurrent.py
@@ -435,6 +435,7 @@ def test_many_steps(self):
         self.do_many_steps(self.stack2, skip_connections=True)
         self.do_many_steps(self.stack2, skip_connections=True, low_memory=True)
 
+
 class TestRecurrentStackHelperMethodes(unittest.TestCase):
     # Separated from TestRecurrentStack because it doesn't depend on setUp
     # and covers a different area then the other tests in TestRecurrentStack
@@ -452,14 +453,16 @@ def test_suffix(self):
         ]
 
         for _name, level, _expected_result in test_cases:
-            name = _name.format(name=name1, level=level1, sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
-            expected_result = _expected_result.format(name=name1, level=level1, sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
+            name = _name.format(
+                name=name1, level=level1, sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
+            expected_result = _expected_result.format(
+                name=name1, level=level1, sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
 
             resut = RecurrentStack.suffix(name, level)
 
-            assert resut == expected_result, "expected suffix(\"{}\",{}) -> \"{}\" got \"{}\"".format(name, level,
-                                                                                                      expected_result,
-                                                                                                      resut)
+            assert resut == expected_result, \
+                "expected suffix(\"{}\",{}) -> \"{}\" got \"{}\"".format(
+                    name, level, expected_result, resut)
 
     def test_split_suffix(self):
         # generate some numbers
@@ -474,28 +477,37 @@ def test_split_suffix(self):
             # case empty name part
             ("{sep}{level}", "", level1),
             # normal case
-            ("{name}{sep}{level}","{name}",level1),
+            ("{name}{sep}{level}", "{name}", level1),
             # case nested recurrent stacks
-            ("{name}{sep}{level}{sep}{level2}","{name}{sep}{level}", level2),
+            ("{name}{sep}{level}{sep}{level2}", "{name}{sep}{level}", level2),
             # some more edge cases...
             ("{sep}{name}{sep}{level}", "{sep}{name}", level1),
-            ("{name}{sep}","{name}{sep}", 0),
-            ("{name}{sep}{name}","{name}{sep}{name}", 0),
-            ("{name}{sep}{level}{sep}{name}", "{name}{sep}{level}{sep}{name}", 0)
+            ("{name}{sep}", "{name}{sep}", 0),
+            ("{name}{sep}{name}", "{name}{sep}{name}", 0),
+            ("{name}{sep}{level}{sep}{name}",
+             "{name}{sep}{level}{sep}{name}", 0)
         ]
 
         # check all test cases
         for _name, _expected_name_part, expected_level in test_cases:
             # fill in aktual details like the currend RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR
-            name = _name.format(name=name1, level=level1, level2=level2, sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
-            expected_name_part = _expected_name_part.format(name=name1, level=level1, level2=level2,
-                                                            sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
+            name = _name.format(
+                name=name1, level=level1, level2=level2,
+                sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
+            expected_name_part = _expected_name_part.format(
+                name=name1, level=level1, level2=level2,
+                sep=RECURRENTSTACK_SEPARATOR)
 
             name_part, level = RecurrentStack.split_suffix(name)
 
-            assert name_part == expected_name_part and level == expected_level, \
-                "expected split_suffex(\"{}\") -> name(\"{}\"), level({}) got name(\"{}\"), level({})".format(
-                name, expected_name_part, expected_level, name_part, level)
+            condition = (name_part == expected_name_part and
+                         level == expected_level)
+            assert condition, "expected split_suffex(\"{}\") " \
+                              "-> name(\"{}\"), level({}) got " \
+                              "name(\"{}\"), level({})".format(
+                                  name, expected_name_part,
+                                  expected_level,
+                                  name_part, level)
 
 
 class TestGatedRecurrent(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/tests/monitoring/test_aggregation.py b/tests/monitoring/test_aggregation.py
index 013efba0..faa2ad78 100644
--- a/tests/monitoring/test_aggregation.py
+++ b/tests/monitoring/test_aggregation.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ def test_parameter_monitor():
 
 
 def _test_mean_like_aggregator(scheme, func):
-    """Common test function for both Mean and Perplexity"""
+    """Common test function for both Mean and Perplexity."""
     features = numpy.array(
         [[0, 3],
          [2, 9],
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_containers.py b/tests/utils/test_containers.py
index de69c68c..724c695c 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_containers.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_containers.py
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 
 
 def test_annotating_list():
-    l = AnnotatingList(range(10))
-    assert repr(l) == repr(list(range(10)))
-    assert l == list(range(10))
-    assert l != list(range(9))
-    assert l[0] == 0
-    l[0] = 10
-    del l[0]
-    l.insert(0, 0)
-    assert l == list(range(10))
+    lst = AnnotatingList(range(10))
+    assert repr(lst) == repr(list(range(10)))
+    assert lst == list(range(10))
+    assert lst != list(range(9))
+    assert lst[0] == 0
+    lst[0] = 10
+    del lst[0]
+    lst.insert(0, 0)
+    assert lst == list(range(10))
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_imports.py b/tests/utils/test_imports.py
index 4054f2ee..6ac60a66 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_imports.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_imports.py
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
 
 def test_no_theano_import():
     del sys.modules['theano']
-    import blocks.utils
+    import blocks.utils  # noqa: F401
     assert 'theano' not in sys.modules
-    from blocks.utils import dict_union
+    from blocks.utils import dict_union  # noqa: F401
     assert 'theano' not in sys.modules
 
 
 def test_imports():
     from blocks.utils import dict_union
-    from blocks.utils import check_theano_variable
-    from blocks.utils.utils import dict_union
-    from blocks.utils.theano_utils import check_theano_variable
+    from blocks.utils import check_theano_variable  # noqa: F401
+    from blocks.utils.utils import dict_union  # noqa: F811,F401
+    from blocks.utils.theano_utils import check_theano_variable  # noqa: F811,F401,E501