diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e885c3753..c9d7e3516 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@
 2) install all required packages
 
     apt-get install git \
-            python3-setuptools python3-pip python3-virtualenv \
-            virtualenv ipython3 \
+            python3-setuptools python3-pip python3-venv ipython3 \
             python3-dev python3-pil python3-numpy python3-psycopg2 \
             python3-pyinotify python3-simplejson \
             python3-geoip python3-html5lib python3-lxml \
diff --git a/ctl b/ctl
index 71bd31a93..d3643fabe 100755
--- a/ctl
+++ b/ctl
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ fi
 if [ "$action" = "init" ]; then
     cd "`dirname "$0"`"
     BASE=`pwd`
-    virtualenv --system-site-packages -p /usr/bin/python3 .
+    python3 -m venv --system-site-packages .
     if [ ! -d static/oxjs ]; then
         git clone --depth 1 https://git.0x2620.org/oxjs.git static/oxjs
     fi
diff --git a/pandora/item/utils.py b/pandora/item/utils.py
index 8c48c8e69..c6b6cfa4d 100644
--- a/pandora/item/utils.py
+++ b/pandora/item/utils.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import ox
 from ox import sort_string
 from six import PY2
 
+
 def safe_filename(filename):
     filename = filename.replace(': ', '_ ')
     filename = filename.replace('/', '_')
diff --git a/pandora/manage.py b/pandora/manage.py
index 50800657f..d33da6f94 100755
--- a/pandora/manage.py
+++ b/pandora/manage.py
@@ -3,6 +3,28 @@ import os
 import signal
 import sys
 
+
+def activate_venv(base):
+    if os.path.exists(base):
+        old_os_path = os.environ.get('PATH', '')
+        bin_path = os.path.join(base, 'bin')
+        if bin_path not in old_os_path:
+            os.environ['PATH'] = os.path.join(base, 'bin') + os.pathsep + old_os_path
+        site_packages = os.path.join(base, 'lib', 'python%s' % sys.version[:3], 'site-packages')
+        prev_sys_path = list(sys.path)
+        import site
+        site.addsitedir(site_packages)
+        sys.real_prefix = sys.prefix
+        sys.prefix = base
+        # Move the added items to the front of the path:
+        new_sys_path = []
+        for item in list(sys.path):
+            if item not in prev_sys_path:
+                new_sys_path.append(item)
+                sys.path.remove(item)
+        sys.path[:0] = new_sys_path
+
+
 class DelayedSignalHandler(object):
     def __init__(self, managed_signals):
         self.managed_signals = managed_signals
@@ -27,26 +49,22 @@ class DelayedSignalHandler(object):
         '''
 
 
-root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
-os.chdir(root_dir)
-
-# use python3 from virtualenv
-python3 = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(root_dir, '..', 'bin', 'python3'))
-if os.path.exists(python3) and sys.version_info[0] == 2:
-    import subprocess
-    cmd = [python3] + sys.argv
-    with DelayedSignalHandler((signal.SIGINT, signal.SIGTERM, signal.SIGHUP)):
-        exit_value = subprocess.call(cmd)
-    sys.exit(exit_value)
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(root_dir, '..', 'bin', 'activate_this.py'))
-with open(activate_this) as f:
-    code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-    exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
-
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
+
+    # use python3 from venv
+    venv_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(root_dir, '..'))
+    python3 = os.path.join(venv_dir, 'bin', 'python3')
+    if os.path.exists(python3) and sys.version_info[0] == 2:
+        import subprocess
+        cmd = [python3] + sys.argv
+        with DelayedSignalHandler((signal.SIGINT, signal.SIGTERM, signal.SIGHUP)):
+            exit_value = subprocess.call(cmd)
+        sys.exit(exit_value)
+
+    os.chdir(root_dir)
+    activate_venv(venv_dir)
+
     os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "settings")
     from django.core.management import execute_from_command_line
     import settings
diff --git a/pandora/settings.py b/pandora/settings.py
index 0e68b631a..d854004d6 100644
--- a/pandora/settings.py
+++ b/pandora/settings.py
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ import djcelery
 djcelery.setup_loader()
 
 BASE_DIR = PROJECT_ROOT = normpath(dirname(__file__))
+BIN_DIR = normpath(join(PROJECT_ROOT, '..', 'bin'))
+if BIN_DIR not in os.environ['PATH']:
+    os.environ['PATH'] = BIN_DIR + os.pathsep + os.environ['PATH']
 
 DEBUG = False
 JSON_DEBUG = False
diff --git a/scripts/item_icon.pandora.py b/scripts/item_icon.pandora.py
index 4681c5550..0cace0fbb 100755
--- a/scripts/item_icon.pandora.py
+++ b/scripts/item_icon.pandora.py
@@ -1,25 +1,17 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # vi:si:et:sw=4:sts=4:ts=4
 from __future__ import division
 import os
 
-root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.join(root_dir, 'bin', 'activate_this.py')
-if os.path.exists(activate_this):
-    with open(activate_this) as f:
-        code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-        exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
 from PIL import Image
 from optparse import OptionParser
 import sys
 
-
+root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
 static_root = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data')
 
+
 def render_icon(frame, timeline, icon):
     icon_width = 1024
     icon_height = 1024
diff --git a/scripts/list_icon.pandora.py b/scripts/list_icon.pandora.py
index f39280957..0a65e07c0 100755
--- a/scripts/list_icon.pandora.py
+++ b/scripts/list_icon.pandora.py
@@ -1,26 +1,20 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # vi:si:et:sw=4:sts=4:ts=4
 from __future__ import division
 import os
 
-root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.join(root_dir, 'bin', 'activate_this.py')
-if os.path.exists(activate_this):
-    with open(activate_this) as f:
-        code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-        exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
 from PIL import Image
 from PIL import ImageDraw
 from optparse import OptionParser
 from ox.image import drawText, wrapText
 import sys
 
+
+root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
 static_root = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data')
 
+
 def render_list_icon(frames, icon):
     icon_width = 256
     icon_height = 256
diff --git a/scripts/poster.0xdb.py b/scripts/poster.0xdb.py
index dd925f162..f040c6edd 100755
--- a/scripts/poster.0xdb.py
+++ b/scripts/poster.0xdb.py
@@ -1,18 +1,9 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python3
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # vi:si:et:sw=4:sts=4:ts=4
 from __future__ import division
 import os
 
-root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.join(root_dir, 'bin', 'activate_this.py')
-if os.path.exists(activate_this):
-    with open(activate_this) as f:
-        code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-        exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
 from PIL import Image
 from PIL import ImageDraw
 import json
@@ -22,6 +13,7 @@ from ox.image import drawText, getRGB, getTextSize, wrapText
 import subprocess
 import sys
 
+root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
 static_root = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data')
 
 def get_frame(id, height, position):
diff --git a/scripts/poster.indiancinema.py b/scripts/poster.indiancinema.py
index 6947f9cca..40d61b38b 100755
--- a/scripts/poster.indiancinema.py
+++ b/scripts/poster.indiancinema.py
@@ -1,18 +1,9 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python3
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # vi:si:et:sw=4:sts=4:ts=4
 from __future__ import division
 import os
 
-root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.join(root_dir, 'bin', 'activate_this.py')
-if os.path.exists(activate_this):
-    with open(activate_this) as f:
-        code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-        exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
 from PIL import Image
 from PIL import ImageDraw
 import json
@@ -21,6 +12,7 @@ import ox
 from ox.image import getRGB, drawText, wrapText
 import sys
 
+root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
 static_root = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data')
 
 def render_poster(data, poster):
diff --git a/scripts/poster.padma.py b/scripts/poster.padma.py
index 0434b5c14..a93724622 100755
--- a/scripts/poster.padma.py
+++ b/scripts/poster.padma.py
@@ -1,18 +1,9 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python3
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # vi:si:et:sw=4:sts=4:ts=4
 from __future__ import division
 import os
 
-root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.join(root_dir, 'bin', 'activate_this.py')
-if os.path.exists(activate_this):
-    with open(activate_this) as f:
-        code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-        exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
 from PIL import Image
 from PIL import ImageDraw
 import json
@@ -21,6 +12,8 @@ import ox
 from ox.image import drawText, wrapText
 import sys
 
+
+root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
 static_root = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data')
 
 def render_poster(data, poster):
diff --git a/scripts/poster.pandora.py b/scripts/poster.pandora.py
index ccd437671..1524bc722 100755
--- a/scripts/poster.pandora.py
+++ b/scripts/poster.pandora.py
@@ -1,18 +1,9 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python3
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # vi:si:et:sw=4:sts=4:ts=4
 from __future__ import division
 import os
 
-root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.join(root_dir, 'bin', 'activate_this.py')
-if os.path.exists(activate_this):
-    with open(activate_this) as f:
-        code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-        exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
 from PIL import Image
 from PIL import ImageDraw
 import json
@@ -21,6 +12,7 @@ import ox
 from ox.image import drawText, wrapText
 import sys
 
+root_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')))
 static_root = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data')
 
 def render_poster(data, poster):
diff --git a/update.py b/update.py
index 0ddd4239c..9f9618190 100755
--- a/update.py
+++ b/update.py
@@ -1,39 +1,74 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python
+#!/usr/bin/env python
 from __future__ import print_function
+import json
 import os
-
-base = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
-os.chdir(base)
-
-# using virtualenv's activate_this.py to reorder sys.path
-activate_this = os.path.join(base, 'bin', 'activate_this.py')
-with open(activate_this) as f:
-    code = compile(f.read(), activate_this, 'exec')
-    exec(code, dict(__file__=activate_this))
-
-import sys
 import shutil
 import subprocess
+import sys
 try:
     from urllib.request import urlopen
 except:
     from urllib2 import urlopen
-import json
 from os.path import join, exists
 
+
+repos = {
+    "pandora": {
+        "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/pandora.git",
+        "path": ".",
+    },
+    "oxjs": {
+        "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/oxjs.git",
+        "path": "./static/oxjs",
+    },
+    "oxtimelines": {
+        "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/oxtimelines.git",
+        "path": "./src/oxtimelines",
+    },
+    "python-ox": {
+        "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/python-ox.git",
+        "path": "./src/python-ox",
+    }
+}
+
+
+def activate_venv(base):
+    if os.path.exists(base):
+        old_os_path = os.environ.get('PATH', '')
+        bin_path = os.path.join(base, 'bin')
+        if bin_path not in old_os_path:
+            os.environ['PATH'] = os.path.join(base, 'bin') + os.pathsep + old_os_path
+        site_packages = os.path.join(base, 'lib', 'python%s' % sys.version[:3], 'site-packages')
+        prev_sys_path = list(sys.path)
+        import site
+        site.addsitedir(site_packages)
+        sys.real_prefix = sys.prefix
+        sys.prefix = base
+        # Move the added items to the front of the path:
+        new_sys_path = []
+        for item in list(sys.path):
+            if item not in prev_sys_path:
+                new_sys_path.append(item)
+                sys.path.remove(item)
+        sys.path[:0] = new_sys_path
+
+
 def run(*cmd):
     p = subprocess.Popen(cmd)
     p.wait()
     return p.returncode
 
+
 def get(*cmd):
     p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
     stdout, error = p.communicate()
     return stdout.decode()
 
+
 def get_json(url):
     return json.loads(urlopen(url).read().decode())
 
+
 def get_release():
     if os.path.exists('.release'):
         url = open('.release').read().strip()
@@ -45,28 +80,11 @@ def get_release():
         print("Failed to load %s check your internet connection." % url)
         sys.exit(1)
 
-repos = {
-  "pandora": {
-    "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/pandora.git",
-    "path": ".",
-  }, 
-  "oxjs": {
-    "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/oxjs.git",
-    "path": "./static/oxjs",
-  }, 
-  "oxtimelines": {
-    "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/oxtimelines.git",
-    "path": "./src/oxtimelines",
-  }, 
-  "python-ox": {
-    "url": "https://git.0x2620.org/python-ox.git",
-    "path": "./src/python-ox",
-  }
-}
 
 def reload_notice(base):
     print('\nPlease restart pan.do/ra to finish the update:\n\tsudo %s/ctl reload\n' % base)
 
+
 def check_services(base):
     services = "pandora pandora-tasks pandora-encoding pandora-cron pandora-websocketd".split()
     for service in services:
@@ -83,24 +101,32 @@ def check_services(base):
             print('\tsudo service %s start' % service)
             print('')
 
+
 def update_service(service):
     print('Please install new init script for "%s" service:' % service)
-    if os.path.exists('/etc/init/%s.conf'%service):
+    if os.path.exists('/etc/init/%s.conf' % service):
         print('\tsudo cp %s/etc/init/%s.conf /etc/init/' % (base, service))
     if os.path.exists('/bin/systemctl'):
         print('\tsudo cp %s/etc/systemd/system/%s.service /etc/systemd/system/' % (base, service))
         print('\tsudo systemctl daemon-reload')
     print('\tsudo service %s restart' % service)
 
+
 def run_git(path, *args):
     cmd = ['git'] + list(args)
     env = {'GIT_DIR': '%s/.git' % path}
     return subprocess.check_output(cmd, env=env).decode().strip()
 
+
 def get_version(path):
     return run_git(path, 'rev-list', 'HEAD', '--count')
 
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    base = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
+    os.chdir(base)
+    activate_venv(base)
+
     if len(sys.argv) == 2 and sys.argv[1] in ('database', 'db'):
         os.chdir(join(base, 'pandora'))
         print('\nRunning "./manage.py migrate"\n')
@@ -144,7 +170,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
             import pandora.settings
             with open('pandora/local_settings.py', 'r') as f:
                 local_settings = f.read()
-            if not 'BROKER_URL' in local_settings:
+            if 'BROKER_URL' not in local_settings:
                 broker_url = 'amqp://%s:%s@%s:%s/%s' % (
                     getattr(pandora.settings, 'BROKER_USER', 'pandora'),
                     getattr(pandora.settings, 'BROKER_PASSWORD', 'box'),
diff --git a/vm/pandora_install.sh b/vm/pandora_install.sh
index 8a9dbb928..4e3977b81 100755
--- a/vm/pandora_install.sh
+++ b/vm/pandora_install.sh
@@ -69,8 +69,7 @@ apt-get install -y \
     git \
     python3-setuptools \
     python3-pip \
-    virtualenv \
-    python3-virtualenv \
+    python3-venv \
     python3-dev \
     python3-pil \
     python3-numpy \