diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 2da2446..0cecfb4 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ env:
     - DJANGO=1.4.10
     - DJANGO=1.5.5
     - DJANGO=1.6.1
+    - DJANGO=1.8.17
 
 matrix:
     exclude:
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index c53f5ec..1d60717 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-Django>=1.4,<1.7
+Django>=1.8
 six>=1.4.0
diff --git a/restlib2/http/__init__.py b/restlib2/http/__init__.py
index 0fd0b8d..6065f46 100644
--- a/restlib2/http/__init__.py
+++ b/restlib2/http/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.core.handlers.wsgi import STATUS_CODE_TEXT
+from httplib import responses as STATUS_CODE_TEXT
 from restlib2.structures import AttrDict
 
 STATUS_CODE_TEXT.setdefault(422, 'UNPROCESSABLE ENTITY')
diff --git a/restlib2/mixins.py b/restlib2/mixins.py
index beae076..efdd40e 100644
--- a/restlib2/mixins.py
+++ b/restlib2/mixins.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from django.template import Engine
 from django.template import loader
 from django.template import RequestContext
 from django.http import HttpResponse
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ def render(self, request, context, status=codes.ok, content_type=None,
         elif self.template_name:
             template = loader.get_template(self.template_name)
         else:
-            template = loader.Template(self.template_string)
+            template = Engine().from_string(self.template_string)
 
         context = RequestContext(request, context)
         content = template.render(context)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 21beff0..29be536 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     'url': 'https://github.com/bruth/restlib2',
 
     'install_requires': [
-        'django>=1.4',
+        'django>=1.8',
         'six>=1.4.0',
     ],
 
diff --git a/test_suite.py b/test_suite.py
index 29b44ef..ea603c1 100644
--- a/test_suite.py
+++ b/test_suite.py
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 import os
 import sys
 
-os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = 'tests.settings'
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    apps = sys.argv[1:]
 
-from django.core import management
+    if not apps:
+        apps = [
+            'tests',
+        ]
 
-apps = sys.argv[1:]
+    os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "tests.settings")
 
-if not apps:
-    apps = [
-        'tests',
-    ]
-
-management.call_command('test', *apps)
+    from django.core.management import execute_from_command_line
+    execute_from_command_line(['manage.py', 'test', 'tests'])
diff --git a/tests/settings.py b/tests/settings.py
index 6a23919..8f3bc3f 100644
--- a/tests/settings.py
+++ b/tests/settings.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import os
-from django.conf.global_settings import TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS
 
 SECRET_KEY = '123abc'
 
@@ -13,15 +12,35 @@
 ROOT_URLCONF = 'tests.tests'
 
 INSTALLED_APPS = (
-    'django.contrib.auth',
-    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
-    'restlib2',
-    'tests',
+    # TODO sgithens - There seems to an issue when these are included,
+    # that the tests can't find the db tables to load the test fixtures.
+    # However, the unit tests still pass if these are not included...
+    # 'django.contrib.auth',
+    # 'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+    # 'restlib2',
+    # 'tests',
 )
 
-TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS += (
-    'django.core.context_processors.request',
-)
+TEMPLATES = [
+    {
+        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
+        'DIRS': [
+            "tests/templates/"
+        ],
+        'OPTIONS': {
+            'context_processors': [
+                'django.template.context_processors.request',
+                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
+                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
+                'django.template.context_processors.i18n',
+                'django.template.context_processors.media',
+                'django.template.context_processors.static',
+                'django.template.context_processors.tz',
+                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
+            ]
+        }
+    },
+]
 
 LOGGING = {
     'version': 1,
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index c552363..d1b71f1 100644
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from calendar import timegm
 from django.test.client import RequestFactory
 from django.test import TestCase
-from django.conf.urls import patterns, url
+from django.conf.urls import url
 from restlib2 import params
 from restlib2.resources import Resource
 from restlib2.mixins import TemplateResponseMixin
@@ -469,8 +469,7 @@ def get(self, request):
         pass
 
 
-urlpatterns = patterns('',
-                       url(r'^$', TestResource(template_name='index.html')))
+urlpatterns =(url(r'^$', TestResource(template_name='index.html')),)
 
 
 class TemplateResourceTestCase(TestCase):