diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index d21e1bb0..6a56ce80 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -3,14 +3,42 @@ python:
   - "2.6"
   - "2.7"
 
-install:
-  - pip install flake8
-  - pip install -e .
+env:
+  global:
+    - PYTHONPATH=/tmp/gaesdk
 
-before_script:
+  matrix:
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true # no dependencies
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true DJANGO_VERSION=1.2.7
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false DJANGO_VERSION=1.2.7
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true DJANGO_VERSION=1.3.7
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false DJANGO_VERSION=1.3.7
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true DJANGO_VERSION=1.5.12
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false DJANGO_VERSION=1.5.12
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true SQLALCHEMY_VERSION=0.7.10
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false SQLALCHEMY_VERSION=0.7.10
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true SQLALCHEMY_VERSION=0.8.7
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false SQLALCHEMY_VERSION=0.8.7
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true SQLALCHEMY_VERSION=0.9.8
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false SQLALCHEMY_VERSION=0.9.8
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true TWISTED_VERSION=14.0.2
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false TWISTED_VERSION=14.0.2
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=true GAESDK_VERSION=1.9.17
+    - USE_EXTENSIONS=false GAESDK_VERSION=1.9.17
+
+before_install:
+  - pip install flake8
   - flake8
 
+install:
+  - pip install flake8 coverage coveralls
+  - pip install -e .
+  - ./install_optional_dependencies.sh
+  - ./maybe_install_cython.sh
+
 script:
-  - python setup.py test
-  - pip install Cython
-  - python setup.py test
+  - coverage run --source=pyamf setup.py test
+
+after_success:
+  - coveralls
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 975ac42c..e7ab7f3c 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@ graft doc
 graft pyamf/tests/imports
 prune doc/build
 prune doc/_build
-include distribute_setup.py
 include setupinfo.py
 include *.txt
 global-exclude *.swf
 global-exclude *.pyc
 include cpyamf/*.pyx
-include cpyamf/*.pxd
\ No newline at end of file
+include cpyamf/*.pxd
diff --git a/README.txt b/README.rst
similarity index 94%
rename from README.txt
rename to README.rst
index b08af1c3..737a7a40 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+.. image:: https://coveralls.io/repos/hydralabs/pyamf/badge.svg
+   :target: https://coveralls.io/r/hydralabs/pyamf
+
 PyAMF_ provides Action Message Format (AMF_) support for Python_ that is
 compatible with the `Adobe Flash Player`_. It includes integration with
 Python web frameworks like Django_, Pylons_, Twisted_, SQLAlchemy_,
diff --git a/cpyamf/amf3.pxd b/cpyamf/amf3.pxd
index 8a1db9b6..a32ef444 100644
--- a/cpyamf/amf3.pxd
+++ b/cpyamf/amf3.pxd
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ cdef class ClassDefinition(object):
 
 
 cdef class Context(codec.Context):
-    cdef codec.IndexedCollection strings
+    cdef codec.ByteStringReferenceCollection strings
     cdef dict classes
     cdef dict class_ref
     cdef dict proxied_objects
diff --git a/cpyamf/amf3.pyx b/cpyamf/amf3.pyx
index 118e7d48..1b587c47 100644
--- a/cpyamf/amf3.pyx
+++ b/cpyamf/amf3.pyx
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ cdef class Context(codec.Context):
     """
 
     def __cinit__(self):
-        self.strings = codec.IndexedCollection(use_hash=1)
+        self.strings = codec.ByteStringReferenceCollection()
         self.classes = {}
         self.class_ref = {}
         self.proxied_objects = {}
diff --git a/cpyamf/codec.pxd b/cpyamf/codec.pxd
index d779b8fb..3da87ec9 100644
--- a/cpyamf/codec.pxd
+++ b/cpyamf/codec.pxd
@@ -29,6 +29,17 @@ cdef class IndexedCollection(object):
     cpdef Py_ssize_t append(self, object obj) except -1
 
 
+cdef class ByteStringReferenceCollection(IndexedCollection):
+    """
+    There have been rare hash collisions within a single AMF payload causing
+    corrupt payloads.
+
+    Which strings cause collisions is dependent on the python runtime, each
+    platform might have a slightly different implementation which means that
+    testing is extremely difficult.
+    """
+
+
 cdef class Context(object):
     """
     C based version of ``pyamf.BaseContext``
diff --git a/cpyamf/codec.pyx b/cpyamf/codec.pyx
index 8a1a27d3..7a522aee 100644
--- a/cpyamf/codec.pyx
+++ b/cpyamf/codec.pyx
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ cdef class IndexedCollection(object):
 
         return <object>self.data[ref]
 
-    cdef inline object _ref(self, object obj):
+    cdef object _ref(self, object obj):
         if self.use_hash:
             return hash(obj)
 
@@ -198,6 +198,25 @@ cdef class IndexedCollection(object):
         return n
 
 
+cdef class ByteStringReferenceCollection(IndexedCollection):
+    """
+    There have been rare hash collisions within a single AMF payload causing
+    corrupt payloads.
+
+    Which strings cause collisions is dependent on the python runtime, each
+    platform might have a slightly different implementation which means that
+    testing is extremely difficult.
+    """
+
+    cdef object _ref(self, object obj):
+        return obj
+
+    def __copy__(self):
+        cdef ByteStringReferenceCollection n = ByteStringReferenceCollection()
+
+        return n
+
+
 cdef class Context(object):
     """
     I hold the AMF context for en/decoding streams.
diff --git a/distribute_setup.py b/distribute_setup.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 1767bd66..00000000
--- a/distribute_setup.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,482 +0,0 @@
-#!python
-"""Bootstrap distribute installation
-
-If you want to use setuptools in your package's setup.py, just include this
-file in the same directory with it, and add this to the top of your setup.py::
-
-    from distribute_setup import use_setuptools
-    use_setuptools()
-
-If you want to require a specific version of setuptools, set a download
-mirror, or use an alternate download directory, you can do so by supplying
-the appropriate options to ``use_setuptools()``.
-
-This file can also be run as a script to install or upgrade setuptools.
-"""
-import os
-import sys
-import time
-import fnmatch
-import tempfile
-import tarfile
-from distutils import log
-
-try:
-    from site import USER_SITE
-except ImportError:
-    USER_SITE = None
-
-try:
-    import subprocess
-
-    def _python_cmd(*args):
-        args = (sys.executable,) + args
-        return subprocess.call(args) == 0
-
-except ImportError:
-    # will be used for python 2.3
-    def _python_cmd(*args):
-        args = (sys.executable,) + args
-        # quoting arguments if windows
-        if sys.platform == 'win32':
-            def quote(arg):
-                if ' ' in arg:
-                    return '"%s"' % arg
-                return arg
-            args = [quote(arg) for arg in args]
-        return os.spawnl(os.P_WAIT, sys.executable, *args) == 0
-
-DEFAULT_VERSION = "0.6.14"
-DEFAULT_URL = "http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/d/distribute/"
-SETUPTOOLS_FAKED_VERSION = "0.6c11"
-
-SETUPTOOLS_PKG_INFO = """\
-Metadata-Version: 1.0
-Name: setuptools
-Version: %s
-Summary: xxxx
-Home-page: xxx
-Author: xxx
-Author-email: xxx
-License: xxx
-Description: xxx
-""" % SETUPTOOLS_FAKED_VERSION
-
-
-def _install(tarball):
-    # extracting the tarball
-    tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-    log.warn('Extracting in %s', tmpdir)
-    old_wd = os.getcwd()
-    try:
-        os.chdir(tmpdir)
-        tar = tarfile.open(tarball)
-        _extractall(tar)
-        tar.close()
-
-        # going in the directory
-        subdir = os.path.join(tmpdir, os.listdir(tmpdir)[0])
-        os.chdir(subdir)
-        log.warn('Now working in %s', subdir)
-
-        # installing
-        log.warn('Installing Distribute')
-        if not _python_cmd('setup.py', 'install'):
-            log.warn('Something went wrong during the installation.')
-            log.warn('See the error message above.')
-    finally:
-        os.chdir(old_wd)
-
-
-def _build_egg(egg, tarball, to_dir):
-    # extracting the tarball
-    tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-    log.warn('Extracting in %s', tmpdir)
-    old_wd = os.getcwd()
-    try:
-        os.chdir(tmpdir)
-        tar = tarfile.open(tarball)
-        _extractall(tar)
-        tar.close()
-
-        # going in the directory
-        subdir = os.path.join(tmpdir, os.listdir(tmpdir)[0])
-        os.chdir(subdir)
-        log.warn('Now working in %s', subdir)
-
-        # building an egg
-        log.warn('Building a Distribute egg in %s', to_dir)
-        _python_cmd('setup.py', '-q', 'bdist_egg', '--dist-dir', to_dir)
-
-    finally:
-        os.chdir(old_wd)
-    # returning the result
-    log.warn(egg)
-    if not os.path.exists(egg):
-        raise IOError('Could not build the egg.')
-
-
-def _do_download(version, download_base, to_dir, download_delay):
-    egg = os.path.join(to_dir, 'distribute-%s-py%d.%d.egg'
-                       % (version, sys.version_info[0], sys.version_info[1]))
-    if not os.path.exists(egg):
-        tarball = download_setuptools(version, download_base,
-                                      to_dir, download_delay)
-        _build_egg(egg, tarball, to_dir)
-    sys.path.insert(0, egg)
-    import setuptools
-    setuptools.bootstrap_install_from = egg
-
-
-def use_setuptools(version=DEFAULT_VERSION, download_base=DEFAULT_URL,
-                   to_dir=os.curdir, download_delay=15, no_fake=True):
-    # making sure we use the absolute path
-    to_dir = os.path.abspath(to_dir)
-    was_imported = 'pkg_resources' in sys.modules or \
-        'setuptools' in sys.modules
-    try:
-        try:
-            import pkg_resources
-            if not hasattr(pkg_resources, '_distribute'):
-                if not no_fake:
-                    _fake_setuptools()
-                raise ImportError
-        except ImportError:
-            return _do_download(version, download_base, to_dir, download_delay)
-        try:
-            pkg_resources.require("distribute>="+version)
-            return
-        except pkg_resources.VersionConflict:
-            e = sys.exc_info()[1]
-            if was_imported:
-                sys.stderr.write(
-                "The required version of distribute (>=%s) is not available,\n"
-                "and can't be installed while this script is running. Please\n"
-                "install a more recent version first, using\n"
-                "'easy_install -U distribute'."
-                "\n\n(Currently using %r)\n" % (version, e.args[0]))
-                sys.exit(2)
-            else:
-                del pkg_resources, sys.modules['pkg_resources']    # reload ok
-                return _do_download(version, download_base, to_dir,
-                                    download_delay)
-        except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
-            return _do_download(version, download_base, to_dir,
-                                download_delay)
-    finally:
-        if not no_fake:
-            _create_fake_setuptools_pkg_info(to_dir)
-
-def download_setuptools(version=DEFAULT_VERSION, download_base=DEFAULT_URL,
-                        to_dir=os.curdir, delay=15):
-    """Download distribute from a specified location and return its filename
-
-    `version` should be a valid distribute version number that is available
-    as an egg for download under the `download_base` URL (which should end
-    with a '/'). `to_dir` is the directory where the egg will be downloaded.
-    `delay` is the number of seconds to pause before an actual download
-    attempt.
-    """
-    # making sure we use the absolute path
-    to_dir = os.path.abspath(to_dir)
-    from six.moves.urllib.request import urlopen
-    tgz_name = "distribute-%s.tar.gz" % version
-    url = download_base + tgz_name
-    saveto = os.path.join(to_dir, tgz_name)
-    src = dst = None
-    if not os.path.exists(saveto):  # Avoid repeated downloads
-        try:
-            log.warn("Downloading %s", url)
-            src = urlopen(url)
-            # Read/write all in one block, so we don't create a corrupt file
-            # if the download is interrupted.
-            data = src.read()
-            dst = open(saveto, "wb")
-            dst.write(data)
-        finally:
-            if src:
-                src.close()
-            if dst:
-                dst.close()
-    return os.path.realpath(saveto)
-
-def _no_sandbox(function):
-    def __no_sandbox(*args, **kw):
-        try:
-            from setuptools.sandbox import DirectorySandbox
-            if not hasattr(DirectorySandbox, '_old'):
-                def violation(*args):
-                    pass
-                DirectorySandbox._old = DirectorySandbox._violation
-                DirectorySandbox._violation = violation
-                patched = True
-            else:
-                patched = False
-        except ImportError:
-            patched = False
-
-        try:
-            return function(*args, **kw)
-        finally:
-            if patched:
-                DirectorySandbox._violation = DirectorySandbox._old
-                del DirectorySandbox._old
-
-    return __no_sandbox
-
-def _patch_file(path, content):
-    """Will backup the file then patch it"""
-    existing_content = open(path).read()
-    if existing_content == content:
-        # already patched
-        log.warn('Already patched.')
-        return False
-    log.warn('Patching...')
-    _rename_path(path)
-    f = open(path, 'w')
-    try:
-        f.write(content)
-    finally:
-        f.close()
-    return True
-
-_patch_file = _no_sandbox(_patch_file)
-
-def _same_content(path, content):
-    return open(path).read() == content
-
-def _rename_path(path):
-    new_name = path + '.OLD.%s' % time.time()
-    log.warn('Renaming %s into %s', path, new_name)
-    os.rename(path, new_name)
-    return new_name
-
-def _remove_flat_installation(placeholder):
-    if not os.path.isdir(placeholder):
-        log.warn('Unkown installation at %s', placeholder)
-        return False
-    found = False
-    for file in os.listdir(placeholder):
-        if fnmatch.fnmatch(file, 'setuptools*.egg-info'):
-            found = True
-            break
-    if not found:
-        log.warn('Could not locate setuptools*.egg-info')
-        return
-
-    log.warn('Removing elements out of the way...')
-    pkg_info = os.path.join(placeholder, file)
-    if os.path.isdir(pkg_info):
-        patched = _patch_egg_dir(pkg_info)
-    else:
-        patched = _patch_file(pkg_info, SETUPTOOLS_PKG_INFO)
-
-    if not patched:
-        log.warn('%s already patched.', pkg_info)
-        return False
-    # now let's move the files out of the way
-    for element in ('setuptools', 'pkg_resources.py', 'site.py'):
-        element = os.path.join(placeholder, element)
-        if os.path.exists(element):
-            _rename_path(element)
-        else:
-            log.warn('Could not find the %s element of the '
-                     'Setuptools distribution', element)
-    return True
-
-_remove_flat_installation = _no_sandbox(_remove_flat_installation)
-
-def _after_install(dist):
-    log.warn('After install bootstrap.')
-    placeholder = dist.get_command_obj('install').install_purelib
-    _create_fake_setuptools_pkg_info(placeholder)
-
-def _create_fake_setuptools_pkg_info(placeholder):
-    if not placeholder or not os.path.exists(placeholder):
-        log.warn('Could not find the install location')
-        return
-    pyver = '%s.%s' % (sys.version_info[0], sys.version_info[1])
-    setuptools_file = 'setuptools-%s-py%s.egg-info' % \
-            (SETUPTOOLS_FAKED_VERSION, pyver)
-    pkg_info = os.path.join(placeholder, setuptools_file)
-    if os.path.exists(pkg_info):
-        log.warn('%s already exists', pkg_info)
-        return
-
-    log.warn('Creating %s', pkg_info)
-    f = open(pkg_info, 'w')
-    try:
-        f.write(SETUPTOOLS_PKG_INFO)
-    finally:
-        f.close()
-
-    pth_file = os.path.join(placeholder, 'setuptools.pth')
-    log.warn('Creating %s', pth_file)
-    f = open(pth_file, 'w')
-    try:
-        f.write(os.path.join(os.curdir, setuptools_file))
-    finally:
-        f.close()
-
-_create_fake_setuptools_pkg_info = _no_sandbox(_create_fake_setuptools_pkg_info)
-
-def _patch_egg_dir(path):
-    # let's check if it's already patched
-    pkg_info = os.path.join(path, 'EGG-INFO', 'PKG-INFO')
-    if os.path.exists(pkg_info):
-        if _same_content(pkg_info, SETUPTOOLS_PKG_INFO):
-            log.warn('%s already patched.', pkg_info)
-            return False
-    _rename_path(path)
-    os.mkdir(path)
-    os.mkdir(os.path.join(path, 'EGG-INFO'))
-    pkg_info = os.path.join(path, 'EGG-INFO', 'PKG-INFO')
-    f = open(pkg_info, 'w')
-    try:
-        f.write(SETUPTOOLS_PKG_INFO)
-    finally:
-        f.close()
-    return True
-
-_patch_egg_dir = _no_sandbox(_patch_egg_dir)
-
-def _before_install():
-    log.warn('Before install bootstrap.')
-    _fake_setuptools()
-
-
-def _under_prefix(location):
-    if 'install' not in sys.argv:
-        return True
-    args = sys.argv[sys.argv.index('install')+1:]
-    for index, arg in enumerate(args):
-        for option in ('--root', '--prefix'):
-            if arg.startswith('%s=' % option):
-                top_dir = arg.split('root=')[-1]
-                return location.startswith(top_dir)
-            elif arg == option:
-                if len(args) > index:
-                    top_dir = args[index+1]
-                    return location.startswith(top_dir)
-        if arg == '--user' and USER_SITE is not None:
-            return location.startswith(USER_SITE)
-    return True
-
-
-def _fake_setuptools():
-    log.warn('Scanning installed packages')
-    try:
-        import pkg_resources
-    except ImportError:
-        # we're cool
-        log.warn('Setuptools or Distribute does not seem to be installed.')
-        return
-    ws = pkg_resources.working_set
-    try:
-        setuptools_dist = ws.find(pkg_resources.Requirement.parse('setuptools',
-                                  replacement=False))
-    except TypeError:
-        # old distribute API
-        setuptools_dist = ws.find(pkg_resources.Requirement.parse('setuptools'))
-
-    if setuptools_dist is None:
-        log.warn('No setuptools distribution found')
-        return
-    # detecting if it was already faked
-    setuptools_location = setuptools_dist.location
-    log.warn('Setuptools installation detected at %s', setuptools_location)
-
-    # if --root or --preix was provided, and if
-    # setuptools is not located in them, we don't patch it
-    if not _under_prefix(setuptools_location):
-        log.warn('Not patching, --root or --prefix is installing Distribute'
-                 ' in another location')
-        return
-
-    # let's see if its an egg
-    if not setuptools_location.endswith('.egg'):
-        log.warn('Non-egg installation')
-        res = _remove_flat_installation(setuptools_location)
-        if not res:
-            return
-    else:
-        log.warn('Egg installation')
-        pkg_info = os.path.join(setuptools_location, 'EGG-INFO', 'PKG-INFO')
-        if (os.path.exists(pkg_info) and
-            _same_content(pkg_info, SETUPTOOLS_PKG_INFO)):
-            log.warn('Already patched.')
-            return
-        log.warn('Patching...')
-        # let's create a fake egg replacing setuptools one
-        res = _patch_egg_dir(setuptools_location)
-        if not res:
-            return
-    log.warn('Patched done.')
-    _relaunch()
-
-
-def _relaunch():
-    log.warn('Relaunching...')
-    # we have to relaunch the process
-    # pip marker to avoid a relaunch bug
-    if sys.argv[:3] == ['-c', 'install', '--single-version-externally-managed']:
-        sys.argv[0] = 'setup.py'
-    args = [sys.executable] + sys.argv
-    sys.exit(subprocess.call(args))
-
-
-def _extractall(self, path=".", members=None):
-    """Extract all members from the archive to the current working
-       directory and set owner, modification time and permissions on
-       directories afterwards. `path' specifies a different directory
-       to extract to. `members' is optional and must be a subset of the
-       list returned by getmembers().
-    """
-    import copy
-    import operator
-    from tarfile import ExtractError
-    directories = []
-
-    if members is None:
-        members = self
-
-    for tarinfo in members:
-        if tarinfo.isdir():
-            # Extract directories with a safe mode.
-            directories.append(tarinfo)
-            tarinfo = copy.copy(tarinfo)
-            tarinfo.mode = 448 # decimal for oct 0700
-        self.extract(tarinfo, path)
-
-    # Reverse sort directories.
-    if sys.version_info < (2, 4):
-        def sorter(dir1, dir2):
-            return cmp(dir1.name, dir2.name)
-        directories.sort(sorter)
-        directories.reverse()
-    else:
-        directories.sort(key=operator.attrgetter('name'), reverse=True)
-
-    # Set correct owner, mtime and filemode on directories.
-    for tarinfo in directories:
-        dirpath = os.path.join(path, tarinfo.name)
-        try:
-            self.chown(tarinfo, dirpath)
-            self.utime(tarinfo, dirpath)
-            self.chmod(tarinfo, dirpath)
-        except ExtractError:
-            e = sys.exc_info()[1]
-            if self.errorlevel > 1:
-                raise
-            else:
-                self._dbg(1, "tarfile: %s" % e)
-
-
-def main(argv, version=DEFAULT_VERSION):
-    """Install or upgrade setuptools and EasyInstall"""
-    tarball = download_setuptools()
-    _install(tarball)
-
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    main(sys.argv[1:])
diff --git a/doc/conf.py b/doc/conf.py
index 0c89cf00..a548aff8 100644
--- a/doc/conf.py
+++ b/doc/conf.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 from docutils.core import publish_parts
 
+
 # If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory,
 # add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
 # documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute.
@@ -24,6 +25,12 @@
 sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('.'))
 sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('html'))
 
+
+# When ReaTheDocs.org builds your project, it sets the READTHEDOCS environment
+# variable to the string True.
+on_rtd = os.environ.get('READTHEDOCS', None) == 'True'
+
+
 def rst2html(input, output):
     """
     Create html file from rst file.
@@ -57,8 +64,9 @@ def rst2html(input, output):
 extensions = ['sphinx.ext.intersphinx', 'sphinx.ext.extlinks',
               'sphinxcontrib.epydoc']
 
-# Paths that contain additional templates, relative to this directory.
-templates_path = ['html']
+if on_rtd == False:
+    # Paths that contain additional templates, relative to this directory.
+    templates_path = ['html']
 
 # The suffix of source filenames.
 source_suffix = '.rst'
@@ -74,8 +82,12 @@ def rst2html(input, output):
 project = 'PyAMF'
 url = 'http://pyamf.org'
 description = 'AMF for Python'
-copyright = "Copyright &#169; 2007-%s The <a href='%s'>%s</a> Project. All rights reserved." % (
-            time.strftime('%Y'), url, project)
+
+if on_rtd == False:
+    copyright = "Copyright &#169; 2007-%s The <a href='%s'>%s</a> Project. All rights reserved." % (
+        time.strftime('%Y'), url, project)
+else:
+    copyright = "2007-%s The %s Project" % (time.strftime('%Y'), project)
 
 # We look for the __init__.py file in the current PyAMF source tree
 # and replace the values accordingly.
@@ -122,20 +134,30 @@ def rst2html(input, output):
 
 # The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  See the documentation for
 # a list of builtin themes.
-#
-# Note: you can download the 'beam' theme from:
-# http://github.com/collab-project/sphinx-themes
-# and place it in a 'themes' directory relative to this config file.
-html_theme = 'beam'
+if on_rtd:
+    # default theme for readthedocs.org
+    html_theme = 'default'
+else:
+    # Note: you can download the 'beam' theme from:
+    # http://github.com/collab-project/sphinx-themes
+    # and place it in a 'themes' directory relative to this config file.
+    html_theme = 'beam'
+
+    # Custom themes here, relative to this directory.
+    html_theme_path = ['themes']
+
+    # Additional templates that should be rendered to pages, maps page names to
+    # template names.
+    html_additional_pages = {
+        'index': 'defindex.html',
+        'tutorials/index': 'tutorials.html',
+    }
 
 # Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
 # further.  For a list of options available for each theme, see the
 # documentation.
 #html_theme_options = {}
 
-# Add any paths that contain custom themes here, relative to this directory.
-html_theme_path = ['themes']
-
 # The name for this set of Sphinx documents.  If None, it defaults to
 # "<project> v<release> documentation".
 html_title = '%s - %s' % (project, description)
@@ -156,13 +178,6 @@ def rst2html(input, output):
 # typographically correct entities.
 #html_use_smartypants = True
 
-# Additional templates that should be rendered to pages, maps page names to
-# template names.
-html_additional_pages = {
-    'index': 'defindex.html',
-    'tutorials/index': 'tutorials.html',
-}
-
 # If false, no module index is generated.
 html_use_modindex = True
 
diff --git a/doc/install.rst b/doc/install.rst
index 06c3b8f4..ded75128 100644
--- a/doc/install.rst
+++ b/doc/install.rst
@@ -4,31 +4,15 @@
 
 .. contents::
 
-PyAMF requires Python_ 2.4 or newer. Python 3.0 isn't supported yet_.
+PyAMF requires Python_ 2.4 or newer. Python 3.0 isn't supported.
 
 
 Easy Installation
 =================
 
-If you have setuptools_ or the `easy_install`_ tool already installed,
-simply type the following on the command-line to install PyAMF::
+Pretty simple::
 
-    easy_install pyamf
-
-`Note: you might need root permissions or equivalent for these steps.`
-
-If you don't have `setuptools` or `easy_install`, first download
-distribute_setup.py_ and run::
-
-    python distribute_setup.py
-
-After `easy_install` is installed, run `easy_install pyamf` again. If
-you run into problems, try the manual installation instructions below.
-
-To upgrade your existing PyAMF installation to the latest version
-use::
-
-    easy_install -U pyamf
+    pip install pyamf
 
 
 Manual Installation
@@ -193,10 +177,8 @@ folder.
 
 
 .. _Python: 			http://www.python.org
-.. _yet:			http://dev.pyamf.org/milestone/0.7
 .. _setuptools:			http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/setuptools
 .. _easy_install: 		http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#installing-easy-install
-.. _distribute_setup.py:		http://github.com/hydralabs/pyamf/blob/master/distribute_setup.py
 .. _Epydoc:			http://epydoc.sourceforge.net
 .. _ElementTree:		http://effbot.org/zone/element-index.htm
 .. _lxml:			http://lxml.de
@@ -214,6 +196,6 @@ folder.
 .. _Trial:			http://twistedmatrix.com/trac/wiki/TwistedTrial
 .. _Cython:			http://cython.org
 .. _Sphinx:     		http://sphinx.pocoo.org
-.. _website:    		http://pyamf.org
+.. _website:    		https://github.com/hydralabs/pyamf
 .. _Installing Python Modules: 	http://docs.python.org/install/index.html
 .. _sphinxcontrib.epydoc:       http://packages.python.org/sphinxcontrib-epydoc
diff --git a/install_optional_dependencies.sh b/install_optional_dependencies.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..3f88c9d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install_optional_dependencies.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/bin/bash -e
+
+# used by Travis to install optional dependencies
+# see .travis.yml:env for envrionment variables
+
+function install_django {
+  if [ -z "${DJANGO_VERSION}" ]; then
+      return 0
+  fi
+
+  pip install Django==${DJANGO_VERSION}
+}
+
+function install_sqlalchemy {
+  if [ -z "${SQLALCHEMY_VERSION}" ]; then
+      return 0
+  fi
+
+  pip install SQLAlchemy==${SQLALCHEMY_VERSION}
+}
+
+function install_twisted {
+  if [ -z "${TWISTED_VERSION}" ]; then
+      return 0
+  fi
+
+  pip install Twisted==${TWISTED_VERSION}
+}
+
+function install_gae_sdk {
+  if [ -z "${GAESDK_VERSION}" ]; then
+      return 0
+  fi
+
+  wget https://storage.googleapis.com/appengine-sdks/featured/google_appengine_${GAESDK_VERSION}.zip -nv
+  mkdir -p /tmp/gaesdk
+  unzip -q google_appengine_${GAESDK_VERSION}.zip -d /tmp/gaesdk
+}
+
+install_django
+install_sqlalchemy
+install_twisted
+install_gae_sdk
diff --git a/maybe_install_cython.sh b/maybe_install_cython.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..01437ef6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maybe_install_cython.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash -e
+
+# used by travis to determine whether to install Cython (and thereby compile
+# the PyAMF extensions)
+
+
+if [ "${USE_EXTENSIONS}" == "true" ]; then
+    pip install Cython
+fi
diff --git a/pyamf/__init__.py b/pyamf/__init__.py
index 40c8b187..738c5b6d 100644
--- a/pyamf/__init__.py
+++ b/pyamf/__init__.py
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ def getCustomProperties(self):
     def getEncodableAttributes(self, obj, **kwargs):
         attrs = ClassAlias.getEncodableAttributes(self, obj, **kwargs)
 
-        attrs['message'] = str(obj)
+        attrs['message'] = unicode(obj)
         attrs['name'] = obj.__class__.__name__
 
         return attrs
diff --git a/pyamf/adapters/_django_utils_translation.py b/pyamf/adapters/_django_utils_translation.py
index b198c96c..5fbd60a0 100644
--- a/pyamf/adapters/_django_utils_translation.py
+++ b/pyamf/adapters/_django_utils_translation.py
@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@
 
 
 def convert_lazy(l, encoder=None):
-    if l.__class__._delegate_unicode:
-        return u'1'
+    try:
+        if l.__class__._delegate_text:
+            return u'l'
+    except AttributeError:
+        if l.__class__._delegate_unicode:
+            return u'l'
 
     if l.__class__._delegate_str:
         return b'1'
diff --git a/pyamf/alias.py b/pyamf/alias.py
index 3ce2cbb0..fff29f76 100644
--- a/pyamf/alias.py
+++ b/pyamf/alias.py
@@ -501,25 +501,25 @@ def getDecodableAttributes(self, obj, attrs, codec=None):
 
                 attrs[k] = context.getObjectForProxy(v)
 
+        if changed:
+            # apply all filters before synonyms
+            a = {}
+
+            [a.__setitem__(p, attrs[p]) for p in props]
+            attrs = a
+
         if self.synonym_attrs:
             missing = object()
 
             for k, v in iteritems(self.synonym_attrs):
-                value = attrs.pop(k, missing)
+                value = attrs.pop(v, missing)
 
                 if value is missing:
                     continue
 
-                attrs[v] = value
+                attrs[k] = value
 
-        if not changed:
-            return attrs
-
-        a = {}
-
-        [a.__setitem__(p, attrs[p]) for p in props]
-
-        return a
+        return attrs
 
     def applyAttributes(self, obj, attrs, codec=None):
         """
diff --git a/pyamf/amf3.py b/pyamf/amf3.py
index 338fb9aa..c5761ed5 100644
--- a/pyamf/amf3.py
+++ b/pyamf/amf3.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
 #: table.
 #: @see: U{OSFlash documentation (external)
 #: <http://osflash.org/documentation/amf3
-#:     #x07_-_xml_legacy_flashxmlxmldocument_class>}
+#:     #x07_-_xml_legacy_flash.xml.xmldocument_class>}
 TYPE_XML = b'\x07'
 #: In AMF 3 an ActionScript Date is serialized as the number of
 #: milliseconds elapsed since the epoch of midnight, 1st Jan 1970 in the
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ class ObjectEncoding:
 class DataOutput(object):
     """
     I am a C{StringIO} type object containing byte data from the AMF stream.
+    ActionScript 3.0 introduced the C{flash.utils.ByteArray} class to support
+    the manipulation of raw data in the form of an Array of bytes.
     I provide a set of methods for writing binary data with ActionScript 3.0.
 
     This class is the I/O counterpart to the L{DataInput} class, which reads
@@ -602,13 +604,13 @@ class Context(codec.Context):
     I hold the AMF3 context for en/decoding streams.
 
     @ivar strings: A list of string references.
-    @type strings: C{list}
+    @type strings: L{codec.ByteStringReferenceCollection}
     @ivar classes: A list of L{ClassDefinition}.
     @type classes: C{list}
     """
 
     def __init__(self):
-        self.strings = codec.IndexedCollection(use_hash=True)
+        self.strings = codec.ByteStringReferenceCollection()
         self.classes = {}
         self.class_ref = {}
 
@@ -1108,14 +1110,17 @@ def readByteArray(self):
             return self.context.getObject(ref >> 1)
 
         buffer = self.stream.read(ref >> 1)
+        compressed = False
 
         if buffer[0:2] == ByteArray._zlib_header:
             try:
                 buffer = zlib.decompress(buffer)
+                compressed = True
             except zlib.error:
                 pass
 
         obj = ByteArray(buffer)
+        obj.compressed = compressed
 
         self.context.addObject(obj)
 
diff --git a/pyamf/codec.py b/pyamf/codec.py
index b9551b32..e91164e3 100644
--- a/pyamf/codec.py
+++ b/pyamf/codec.py
@@ -114,6 +114,30 @@ def __repr__(self):
             id(self))
 
 
+class ByteStringReferenceCollection(IndexedCollection):
+    """
+    There have been rare hash collisions within a single AMF payload causing
+    corrupt payloads.
+
+    Which strings cause collisions is dependent on the python runtime, each
+    platform might have a slightly different implementation which means that
+    testing is extremely difficult.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(ByteStringReferenceCollection, self).__init__(use_hash=False)
+
+    def getReferenceTo(self, byte_string):
+        return self.dict.get(byte_string, -1)
+
+    def append(self, byte_string):
+        self.list.append(byte_string)
+        idx = len(self.list) - 1
+        self.dict[byte_string] = idx
+
+        return idx
+
+
 class Context(object):
     """
     The base context for all AMF [de|en]coding.
diff --git a/pyamf/remoting/amf3.py b/pyamf/remoting/amf3.py
index 1e94fa30..32dd4e9e 100644
--- a/pyamf/remoting/amf3.py
+++ b/pyamf/remoting/amf3.py
@@ -65,11 +65,14 @@ def generate_error(request, cls, e, tb, include_traceback=False):
         code = cls.__name__
 
     details = None
-    rootCause = None
+    rootCause = e
 
     if include_traceback:
-        details = traceback.format_exception(cls, e, tb)
-        rootCause = e
+        buffer = pyamf.util.BufferedByteStream()
+
+        traceback.print_exception(cls, e, tb, file=buffer)
+
+        details = buffer.getvalue()
 
     faultDetail = None
     faultString = None
diff --git a/pyamf/remoting/gateway/django.py b/pyamf/remoting/gateway/django.py
index c083926b..94c9da16 100644
--- a/pyamf/remoting/gateway/django.py
+++ b/pyamf/remoting/gateway/django.py
@@ -94,17 +94,15 @@ def __call__(self, http_request):
         stream = None
         timezone_offset = self._get_timezone_offset()
 
+        try:
+            body = http_request.body
+        except AttributeError:
+            body = http_request.raw_post_data
+
         # Decode the request
         try:
             request = remoting.decode(
-                http_request.raw_post_data,
-                strict=self.strict,
-                logger=self.logger,
-                timezone_offset=timezone_offset
-            )
-        except AttributeError:  # fix to make work with Django 1.6
-            request = remoting.decode(
-                http_request.body,
+                body,
                 strict=self.strict,
                 logger=self.logger,
                 timezone_offset=timezone_offset
diff --git a/pyamf/remoting/gateway/google.py b/pyamf/remoting/gateway/google.py
index 12513bd4..be999a79 100644
--- a/pyamf/remoting/gateway/google.py
+++ b/pyamf/remoting/gateway/google.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def get(self):
         )
 
     def post(self):
-        body = self.request.body_file.read()
+        body = self.request.body
         stream = None
         timezone_offset = self._get_timezone_offset()
 
diff --git a/pyamf/tests/adapters/django_app/settings.py b/pyamf/tests/adapters/django_app/settings.py
index b1e1054e..904a9f7a 100644
--- a/pyamf/tests/adapters/django_app/settings.py
+++ b/pyamf/tests/adapters/django_app/settings.py
@@ -3,7 +3,19 @@
 
 # The simplest Django settings possible
 
+# support for Django < 1.5
 DATABASE_ENGINE = 'sqlite3'
 DATABASE_NAME = ':memory:'
 
+# support for Django >= 1.5
+SECRET_KEY = 'unittest'
+
+DATABASES = {
+    'default': {
+        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.' + DATABASE_ENGINE,
+        'NAME': DATABASE_NAME,
+    }
+}
+
+
 INSTALLED_APPS = ('adapters',)
diff --git a/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_django.py b/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_django.py
index 63069ba8..87116626 100644
--- a/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_django.py
+++ b/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_django.py
@@ -25,12 +25,8 @@
 if django and django.VERSION < (1, 0):
     django = None
 
-try:
-    reload(settings)
-except NameError:
-    from pyamf.tests.adapters.django_app import settings
-
 
+settings = None
 context = None
 
 #: django modules/functions used once bootstrapped
@@ -50,12 +46,14 @@ def init_django():
     """
     Bootstrap Django and initialise this module
     """
-    global django, management, create_test_db, destroy_test_db
+    global django, management, create_test_db, destroy_test_db, settings
     global setup_test_environment, teardown_test_environment
 
     if not django:
         return
 
+    from pyamf.tests.adapters.django_app import settings
+
     from django.core import management
 
     project_dir = management.setup_environ(settings)
@@ -103,16 +101,16 @@ def tearDownModule():
     if teardown_test_environment:
         teardown_test_environment()
 
-    sys.path = context['sys.path']
-    util.replace_dict(context['sys.modules'], sys.modules)
-    util.replace_dict(context['os.environ'], os.environ)
-
     if destroy_test_db:
         destroy_test_db(settings.DATABASE_NAME, verbosity=0)
 
     if storage:
         rmtree(storage.location, ignore_errors=True)
 
+    sys.path = context['sys.path']
+    util.replace_dict(context['sys.modules'], sys.modules)
+    util.replace_dict(context['os.environ'], os.environ)
+
 
 class BaseTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
diff --git a/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_google.py b/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_google.py
index 22e76e1d..73740ec3 100644
--- a/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_google.py
+++ b/pyamf/tests/adapters/test_google.py
@@ -7,25 +7,28 @@
 @since: 0.3.1
 """
 
-import unittest
 import datetime
 import struct
-import os
 
 import pyamf
 from pyamf import amf3
 from pyamf.tests import util
 
+
 try:
-    from google.appengine.ext import db
+    import dev_appserver
+
+    dev_appserver.fix_sys_path()
 except ImportError:
-    db = None
+    dev_appserver = None
 
 
+db = None
 blobstore = None
 polymodel = None
 adapter_db = None
 adapter_blobstore = None
+testbed = None
 
 test_models = None
 
@@ -36,17 +39,17 @@ def setUpModule():
     """
     """
     global db, blobstore, polymodel, adapter_blobstore, adapter_db, test_models
+    global dev_appserver, testbed
 
-    if db is None:
+    if dev_appserver is None:
         return
 
-    if not os.environ.get('SERVER_SOFTWARE', None):
-        # this is an extra check because the AppEngine SDK may be in PYTHONPATH
-        raise unittest.SkipTest('Appengine env not bootstrapped correctly')
-
     # all looks good - we now initialise the imports we require
+
+    from google.appengine.ext import db  # noqa
     from google.appengine.ext import blobstore  # noqa
     from google.appengine.ext.db import polymodel  # noqa
+    from google.appengine.ext import testbed  # noqa
 
     from pyamf.adapters import _google_appengine_ext_db as adapter_db  # noqa
     from pyamf.adapters import (  # noqa
@@ -61,10 +64,16 @@ class BaseTestCase(util.ClassCacheClearingTestCase):
     """
 
     def setUp(self):
-        if db is None:
+        if dev_appserver is None:
             self.skipTest('google appengine sdk not found')
 
         util.ClassCacheClearingTestCase.setUp(self)
+        self.testbed = testbed.Testbed()
+
+        self.testbed.activate()
+        # Next, declare which service stubs you want to use.
+        self.testbed.init_datastore_v3_stub()
+        self.testbed.init_memcache_stub()
 
     def put(self, entity):
         entity.put()
diff --git a/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_django.py b/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_django.py
index 32c4bdbb..04f18cbf 100644
--- a/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_django.py
+++ b/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_django.py
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@
 import os
 
 try:
+    from cStringIO import StringIO
+except ImportError:
+    from StringIO import StringIO
+
+try:
+    import django as _django
     from django import http
     from pyamf.remoting.gateway import django
 except ImportError:
@@ -23,6 +29,22 @@
 from pyamf import remoting, util
 
 
+def make_http_request(method, body=''):
+    http_request = http.HttpRequest()
+    http_request.method = method
+
+    version = _django.VERSION[:2]
+
+    if version <= (1, 2):
+        http_request.raw_post_data = body
+    else:
+        http_request._stream = StringIO(body)
+        # fix a django 1.3 bug where this would not be set
+        http_request._read_started = False
+
+    return http_request
+
+
 class BaseTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     """
     """
@@ -39,12 +61,14 @@ def setUp(self):
         import new
 
         self.mod_name = '%s.%s' % (__name__, 'settings')
-        sys.modules[self.mod_name] = new.module(self.mod_name)
+        self.settings = sys.modules[self.mod_name] = new.module(self.mod_name)
 
         self.old_env = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', None)
 
         os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = self.mod_name
 
+        self.settings.SECRET_KEY = 'unittest'
+
     def tearDown(self):
         if self.old_env is not None:
             os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = self.old_env
@@ -78,8 +102,7 @@ def test_settings(self):
     def test_request_method(self):
         gw = django.DjangoGateway()
 
-        http_request = http.HttpRequest()
-        http_request.method = 'GET'
+        http_request = make_http_request('GET')
 
         http_response = gw(http_request)
         self.assertEqual(http_response.status_code, 405)
@@ -91,9 +114,7 @@ def test_bad_request(self):
         request.write('Bad request')
         request.seek(0, 0)
 
-        http_request = http.HttpRequest()
-        http_request.method = 'POST'
-        http_request.raw_post_data = request.getvalue()
+        http_request = make_http_request('POST', request.getvalue())
 
         http_response = gw(http_request)
         self.assertEqual(http_response.status_code, 400)
@@ -109,9 +130,7 @@ def test_unknown_request(self):
         )
         request.seek(0, 0)
 
-        http_request = http.HttpRequest()
-        http_request.method = 'POST'
-        http_request.raw_post_data = request.getvalue()
+        http_request = make_http_request('POST', request.getvalue())
 
         http_response = gw(http_request)
         envelope = remoting.decode(http_response.content)
@@ -125,7 +144,6 @@ def test_unknown_request(self):
         self.assertEqual(body.code, 'Service.ResourceNotFound')
 
     def test_expose_request(self):
-        http_request = http.HttpRequest()
         self.executed = False
 
         def test(request):
@@ -142,8 +160,7 @@ def test(request):
         )
         request.seek(0, 0)
 
-        http_request.method = 'POST'
-        http_request.raw_post_data = request.getvalue()
+        http_request = make_http_request('POST', request.getvalue())
 
         gw(http_request)
 
@@ -158,9 +175,7 @@ def test_really_bad_decode(self):
             Exception, *args, **kwargs
         )
 
-        http_request = http.HttpRequest()
-        http_request.method = 'POST'
-        http_request.raw_post_data = ''
+        http_request = make_http_request('POST', '')
 
         gw = django.DjangoGateway()
 
@@ -187,9 +202,7 @@ def test_expected_exceptions_decode(self):
 
         gw = django.DjangoGateway()
 
-        http_request = http.HttpRequest()
-        http_request.method = 'POST'
-        http_request.raw_post_data = ''
+        http_request = make_http_request('POST', '')
 
         try:
             for x in (KeyboardInterrupt, SystemExit):
@@ -207,7 +220,6 @@ def test_expected_exceptions_decode(self):
     def test_timezone(self):
         import datetime
 
-        http_request = http.HttpRequest()
         self.executed = False
 
         td = datetime.timedelta(hours=-5)
@@ -228,8 +240,10 @@ def echo(d):
         msg = remoting.Envelope(amfVersion=pyamf.AMF0)
         msg['/1'] = remoting.Request(target='test.test', body=[now])
 
-        http_request.method = 'POST'
-        http_request.raw_post_data = remoting.encode(msg).getvalue()
+        http_request = make_http_request(
+            'POST',
+            remoting.encode(msg).getvalue()
+        )
 
         res = remoting.decode(gw(http_request).content)
         self.assertTrue(self.executed)
diff --git a/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_google.py b/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_google.py
index 336dc423..02697668 100644
--- a/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_google.py
+++ b/pyamf/tests/gateway/test_google.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 """
 
 import unittest
-import os
 
 from six import StringIO
 
@@ -20,11 +19,6 @@
 except ImportError:
     webapp = None
 
-if os.environ.get('SERVER_SOFTWARE', None) is None:
-    # we're not being run in appengine environment (at one that we are known to
-    # work in)
-    webapp = None
-
 
 import pyamf
 from pyamf import remoting
@@ -47,7 +41,8 @@ def setUp(self):
 
         self.environ = {
             'wsgi.input': StringIO(),
-            'wsgi.output': StringIO()
+            'wsgi.output': StringIO(),
+            'webob.is_body_readable': True
         }
 
         self.request = webapp.Request(self.environ)
@@ -58,25 +53,26 @@ def setUp(self):
     def test_get(self):
         self.gw.get()
 
-        self.assertEqual(self.response.__dict__['_Response__status'][0], 405)
+        self.assertEqual(self.response.status, 405)
 
     def test_bad_request(self):
         self.environ['wsgi.input'].write('Bad request')
         self.environ['wsgi.input'].seek(0, 0)
 
         self.gw.post()
-        self.assertEqual(self.response.__dict__['_Response__status'][0], 400)
+        self.assertEqual(self.response.status, 400)
 
     def test_unknown_request(self):
         self.environ['wsgi.input'].write(
             '\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x00\x09test.test\x00\x02/1\x00\x00\x00'
             '\x14\x0a\x00\x00\x00\x01\x08\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x61\x02\x00'
-            '\x01\x61\x00\x00\x09')
+            '\x01\x61\x00\x00\x09'
+        )
         self.environ['wsgi.input'].seek(0, 0)
 
         self.gw.post()
 
-        self.assertEqual(self.response.__dict__['_Response__status'][0], 200)
+        self.assertEqual(self.response.status, 200)
 
         envelope = remoting.decode(self.response.out.getvalue())
         message = envelope['/1']
diff --git a/pyamf/tests/test_alias.py b/pyamf/tests/test_alias.py
index c0d2011e..b3cc1e28 100644
--- a/pyamf/tests/test_alias.py
+++ b/pyamf/tests/test_alias.py
@@ -385,13 +385,37 @@ def test_synonym(self):
         self.assertFalse(self.alias.shortcut_decode)
 
         attrs = {
-            'foo': 'foo',
+            'bar': 'foo',
             'spam': 'eggs'
         }
 
         ret = self.alias.getDecodableAttributes(self.obj, attrs)
 
-        self.assertEquals(ret, {'bar': 'foo', 'spam': 'eggs'})
+        self.assertEquals(ret, {'foo': 'foo', 'spam': 'eggs'})
+
+    def test_complex_synonym(self):
+        self.alias.synonym_attrs = {'foo_syn': 'bar_syn'}
+        self.alias.compile()
+
+        self.alias.static_properties = ['foo_syn', ]
+        self.alias.exclude_attrs = ['baz', 'gak']
+        self.alias.readonly_attrs = ['spam_rd_1', 'spam_rd_2']
+
+        self.assertFalse(self.alias.shortcut_encode)
+        self.assertFalse(self.alias.shortcut_decode)
+
+        attrs = {
+            'bar_syn': 'foo',
+            'spam': 'eggs',
+            'spam_rd_1': 'eggs',
+            'spam_rd_2': 'eggs',
+            'baz': 'remove me',
+            'gak': 'remove me'
+        }
+
+        ret = self.alias.getDecodableAttributes(self.obj, attrs)
+
+        self.assertEquals(ret, {'foo_syn': 'foo', 'spam': 'eggs'})
 
 
 class ApplyAttributesTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/pyamf/tests/test_amf3.py b/pyamf/tests/test_amf3.py
index 782bc3db..245cc6ce 100644
--- a/pyamf/tests/test_amf3.py
+++ b/pyamf/tests/test_amf3.py
@@ -1540,7 +1540,7 @@ def build_complex(self, max=5):
 
         return test_objects
 
-    def complex_test(self):
+    def complex_trial(self):
         to_cd = self.context.getClass(self.TestObject)
         tso_cd = self.context.getClass(self.TestSubObject)
 
@@ -1558,7 +1558,7 @@ def test_complex_dict(self):
         complex = {'element': 'ignore', 'objects': self.build_complex()}
 
         self.encoder.writeElement(complex)
-        self.complex_test()
+        self.complex_trial()
 
     def test_complex_encode_decode_dict(self):
         complex = {'element': 'ignore', 'objects': self.build_complex()}
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 5514a2b4..4bff0526 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -51,4 +51,4 @@ sourcecode: yes
 #dotpath: /usr/local/bin/dot
 
 [flake8]
-exclude=doc,.ropeproject,distribute_setup.py
+exclude=doc,.ropeproject
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4c78767a..b46cf8c3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 name = "PyAMF"
 description = "AMF support for Python"
-long_description = setupinfo.read('README.txt')
+long_description = setupinfo.read('README.rst')
 url = "http://pyamf.org"
 author = "The PyAMF Project"
 author_email = "users@pyamf.org"