diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 806fc1411..e4f42d0fd 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ before_install:
    if [[ "${TRAVIS_OS_NAME}" == "osx" ]]; then
      rvm get head || true
    fi
- - source scripts/setup_mason.sh
  - export PYTHONUSERBASE=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link
  - export PYTHONPATH=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/lib/python2.7/site-packages
  - export PATH=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/bin:${PYTHONUSERBASE}/bin:${PATH}
@@ -56,8 +55,8 @@ before_install:
  - |
    if [[ $(uname -s) == 'Linux' ]]; then
      export LDSHARED=$(python -c "import os;from distutils import sysconfig;print sysconfig.get_config_var('LDSHARED').replace('cc ','clang++-3.9 ')");
-     ./.mason/mason install clang++ 3.9.1
-     export PATH=$(./.mason/mason prefix clang++ 3.9.1)/bin:${PATH}
+     ./scripts/mason.sh install clang++ 3.9.1
+     export PATH=$(./scripts/mason.sh prefix clang++ 3.9.1)/bin:${PATH}
      which clang++
    else
      sudo easy_install pip;
diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
index fee477ddd..9e6259dbc 100755
--- a/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/bootstrap.sh
@@ -4,36 +4,38 @@ set -eu
 set -o pipefail
 
 function install() {
-    MASON_PLATFORM_ID=$(mason env MASON_PLATFORM_ID)
-    if [[ ! -d ./mason_packages/${MASON_PLATFORM_ID}/${1}/ ]]; then
-        mason install $1 $2
-        mason link $1 $2
+    if [[ ${3:-} ]] ; then
+        ./scripts/mason.sh install $1 $2 $3
+        ./scripts/mason.sh link $1 $2 $3
+    else
+        ./scripts/mason.sh install $1 $2
+        ./scripts/mason.sh link $1 $2
     fi
 }
 
 ICU_VERSION="57.1"
 
 function install_mason_deps() {
-    install mapnik 333ef9f
-    install jpeg_turbo 1.5.1 libjpeg
-    install libpng 1.6.28 libpng
-    install libtiff 4.0.7 libtiff
+    install mapnik 6e02595
+    install jpeg_turbo 1.5.1
+    install libpng 1.6.28
+    install libtiff 4.0.7
     install libpq 9.6.2
-    install sqlite 3.17.0 libsqlite3
-    install expat 2.2.0 libexpat
+    install sqlite 3.17.0
+    install expat 2.2.0
     install icu ${ICU_VERSION}
-    install proj 4.9.3 libproj
-    install pixman 0.34.0 libpixman-1
-    install cairo 1.14.8 libcairo
-    install webp 0.6.0 libwebp
-    install libgdal 2.1.3 libgdal
-    install boost 1.63.0
+    install proj 4.9.3
+    install pixman 0.34.0
+    install cairo 1.14.8
+    install webp 0.6.0
+    install libgdal 2.1.3
+    install boost 1.63.0 --header-only
     install boost_libsystem 1.63.0
     install boost_libfilesystem 1.63.0
     install boost_libprogram_options 1.63.0
     install boost_libregex_icu57 1.63.0
-    install freetype 2.7.1 libfreetype
-    install harfbuzz 1.4.2-ft libharfbuzz
+    install freetype 2.7.1
+    install harfbuzz 1.4.2-ft
     # deps needed by python-mapnik (not mapnik core)
     install boost_libthread 1.63.0
     install boost_libpython 1.63.0
@@ -45,21 +47,19 @@ function setup_runtime_settings() {
     export ICU_DATA=${MASON_LINKED_ABS}/share/icu/${ICU_VERSION}
     export GDAL_DATA=${MASON_LINKED_ABS}/share/gdal
     if [[ $(uname -s) == 'Darwin' ]]; then
-        export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/lib:${DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+        export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/lib:${DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH-}
     else
-        export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+        export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH-}
     fi
     export PATH=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link/bin:${PATH}
 }
 
 function main() {
-    source scripts/setup_mason.sh
-    setup_mason
     install_mason_deps
     setup_runtime_settings
     echo "Ready, now run:"
     echo ""
-    echo "    python setup.py test"
+    echo "    python setup.py develop test"
 }
 
 main
diff --git a/scripts/mason.sh b/scripts/mason.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/scripts/setup_mason.sh b/scripts/setup_mason.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index fd91a3b69..000000000
--- a/scripts/setup_mason.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-set -eu
-set -o pipefail
-
-# we pin the mason version to avoid changes in mason breaking builds
-MASON_VERSION="68a9498"
-
-function setup_mason() {
-    if [[ ! -d ./.mason ]]; then
-        git clone https://github.com/mapbox/mason.git ./.mason
-        (cd ./.mason && git checkout ${MASON_VERSION})
-    else
-        echo "Updating to latest mason"
-        (cd ./.mason && git fetch && git checkout ${MASON_VERSION})
-    fi
-    export MASON_HOME=$(pwd)/mason_packages/.link
-    export PATH=$(pwd)/.mason:$PATH
-    export CXX=${CXX:-clang++}
-    export CC=${CC:-clang}
-}
-
-
-setup_mason
-
-set +eu
-set +o pipefail
\ No newline at end of file