diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index d732415ce..06e890536 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@ load "lib/tasks/active_fedora_dev.rake"
 
 CLEAN.include %w(**/.DS_Store tmp *.log *.orig *.tmp **/*~)
 
+desc 'setup jetty and run tests'
 task ci: ['jetty:clean', 'active_fedora:ci']
-task spec: ['active_fedora:rspec']
+desc 'run tests'
+task spec: ['active_fedora:rubocop', 'active_fedora:rspec']
 task rcov: ['active_fedora:rcov']
 
 task default: [:ci]
diff --git a/lib/tasks/active_fedora_dev.rake b/lib/tasks/active_fedora_dev.rake
index af255187e..b2d7518fc 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/active_fedora_dev.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/active_fedora_dev.rake
@@ -23,10 +23,9 @@ namespace :active_fedora do
   end
 
   require 'rspec/core/rake_task'
-  task rspec: :rubocop do
-    RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new(:rspec) do |spec|
-      spec.rspec_opts = ['--backtrace'] if ENV['CI']
-    end
+  desc 'Run tests only'
+  RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new(:rspec) do |spec|
+    spec.rspec_opts = ['--backtrace'] if ENV['CI']
   end
 
   require 'rubocop/rake_task'
@@ -62,7 +61,7 @@ namespace :active_fedora do
   end
 
   desc "Execute specs with coverage"
-  task :coverage do
+  task coverage: :rubocop do
     # Put spec opts in a file named .rspec in root
     ruby_engine = defined?(RUBY_ENGINE) ? RUBY_ENGINE : "ruby"
     ENV['COVERAGE'] = 'true' unless ruby_engine == 'jruby'