diff --git a/.flake8 b/.flake8
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00b1dea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.flake8
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[flake8]
+max-line-length = 88
+ignore = E501, E203  # line length, whitespace before ':'
diff --git a/gdbgui/statemanager.py b/gdbgui/statemanager.py
index 8a1e896..e6e4dee 100644
--- a/gdbgui/statemanager.py
+++ b/gdbgui/statemanager.py
@@ -29,9 +29,10 @@ class StateManager(object):
             if controller:
                 self.controller_to_client_ids[controller].append(client_id)
                 message = "gdbgui is using existing subprocess with pid %s, "
-                "originally opened with command %s" % (str(
-                    desired_gdbpid
-                ), controller.get_subprocess_cmd())
+                "originally opened with command %s" % (
+                    str(desired_gdbpid),
+                    controller.get_subprocess_cmd(),
+                )
                 using_existing = True
                 pid = desired_gdbpid
             else:
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 0589210..dcc9152 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 # run pip install -r dev_requirements.txt before running make test
 .PHONY: test publish executable
 test:
-	# flake8 gdbgui/backend.py --ignore=E121,E123,E126,E128,E501
-	python setup.py test
+	python -m test
 	yarn test
 	yarn build
 	python setup.py checkdocs
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ba7eb80..c355eea 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 
 import io
 import os
-import sys
-from setuptools import find_packages, setup, Command
+from setuptools import find_packages, setup
 
 CURDIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 
@@ -25,25 +24,6 @@ VERSION = (
     .strip()
 )
 
-
-class TestCommand(Command):
-    description = "test task"
-    user_options = []
-
-    def initialize_options(self):
-        pass
-
-    def finalize_options(self):
-        pass
-
-    def run(self):
-        # import here so dependency error on Flask is not
-        # raised
-        from tests import test_app
-
-        sys.exit(test_app.main())
-
-
 setup(
     name="gdbgui",
     version=VERSION,
@@ -81,7 +61,6 @@ setup(
     },
     extras_require={},
     zip_safe=False,
-    cmdclass={"test": TestCommand},
     install_requires=REQUIRED,
     classifiers=[
         "Intended Audience :: Developers",
diff --git a/tests/__main__.py b/tests/__main__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b01cdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/__main__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from . import test_app, static_tests
+
+exit(test_app.main() + static_tests.main()
diff --git a/tests/static_tests.py b/tests/static_tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0c128d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/static_tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import subprocess
+
+
+def run(cmd):
+    print(f"Running {' '.join(cmd)!r}")
+    return subprocess.run(cmd).returncode
+
+
+def main():
+    files = ["gdbgui", "tests", "setup.py"]
+    ret = 0
+    ret += run(["black", "--check"] + files)
+    ret += run(["flake8"] + files)
+    return ret
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    exit(main())