diff --git a/.rubocop.yml b/.rubocop.yml
index 031cff1..75eb94c 100644
--- a/.rubocop.yml
+++ b/.rubocop.yml
@@ -162,11 +162,13 @@ Metrics/BlockLength:
     - "spec/**/*.rb"
     - "test/dummy/config/**/*.rb"
 
+# Rails cops only for controllers
+Rails/Date:
+  Exclude:
+    - "spec/support/**/*"
 Rails/TimeZone:
   Exclude:
     - "spec/lib/**/*"
-
-# Rails cops only for controllers
 Rails/Delegate:
   Exclude:
     - "lib/**/*"
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 32843bb..d93f671 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ end
 
 group :development do
   # code style
-  gem "pronto",         "0.8.2"
-  gem "pronto-rubocop", "0.8.0", require: false
-  gem "rubocop",        "0.48.0"
+  gem "pronto",         "0.8.2",  require: false
+  gem "pronto-rubocop", "0.8.0",  require: false
+  gem "rubocop",        "0.48.0", require: false
 
   # automatic test runs
   gem "guard-rspec",   require: false
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ group :test do
 end
 
 group :development, :test do
+  gem "rake"
+
   # unit tests
-  gem "rspec-core", "~> 3.5.1"
+  gem "rspec", "~> 3.5.0"
   gem "rspec-rails", "~> 3.5.1"
 end
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 32c2d99..b05a0e0 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -248,8 +248,9 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   pronto-rubocop (= 0.8.0)
   pry
   pry-byebug
+  rake
+  rspec (~> 3.5.0)
   rspec-collection_matchers (~> 1.1.2)
-  rspec-core (~> 3.5.1)
   rspec-json_expectations (~> 2.1)
   rspec-rails (~> 3.5.1)
   rubocop (= 0.48.0)
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 4e62d3b..4088c01 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -13,14 +13,19 @@ RDoc::Task.new(:rdoc) do |rdoc|
   rdoc.rdoc_files.include("lib/**/*.rb")
 end
 
-APP_RAKEFILE = File.expand_path("../test/dummy/Rakefile", __FILE__)
-load "rails/tasks/engine.rake"
+if defined?(::Rails)
+  APP_RAKEFILE = File.expand_path("../test/dummy/Rakefile", __FILE__)
+  load "rails/tasks/engine.rake"
+  load "rails/tasks/statistics.rake"
 
-load "rails/tasks/statistics.rake"
+  Rails.application.load_tasks
+else
+  require "rspec/core/rake_task"
+  RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new(:spec)
+  FileList["lib/tasks/**/*.rake"].each {|task| load(task) }
+end
 
 Bundler::GemHelper.install_tasks name: "diaspora_federation"
 
-Rails.application.load_tasks
-
 task test: :spec
 task default: :test
diff --git a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation_spec.rb b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation_spec.rb
index 3a5b4f0..4451309 100644
--- a/spec/lib/diaspora_federation_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/diaspora_federation_spec.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module DiasporaFederation
         DiasporaFederation.server_uri = temp
       end
 
-      context "certificate_authorities" do
+      context "certificate_authorities", rails: true do
         before do
           @certificate_authorities = DiasporaFederation.certificate_authorities
         end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index b7578b7..b4f4ce2 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -12,12 +12,25 @@ unless ENV["NO_COVERAGE"] == "true"
   end
 end
 
-ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= "test"
-require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "..", "test", "dummy", "config", "environment")
+dummy_app_path = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "..", "test", "dummy")
 
-require "rspec/rails"
-require "webmock/rspec"
+begin
+  require "rails" # try to load rails
+rescue LoadError
+  Dir["#{File.join(dummy_app_path, 'app', 'models')}/*.rb"].each {|f| require f }
+  require File.join(dummy_app_path, "config", "initializers", "diaspora_federation")
+else
+  ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= "test"
+  require File.join(dummy_app_path, "config", "environment")
+
+  require "rspec/rails"
+end
+
+# test helpers
+require "json-schema-rspec"
+require "rspec/collection_matchers"
 require "rspec/json_expectations"
+require "webmock/rspec"
 
 # load factories
 require "factories"
@@ -39,7 +52,12 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
     expect_config.syntax = :expect
   end
 
-  config.filter_run_excluding rails: (Rails::VERSION::MAJOR == 5 ? 4 : 5)
+  if defined?(::Rails)
+    config.filter_run_excluding rails: (::Rails::VERSION::MAJOR == 5 ? 4 : 5)
+  else
+    config.exclude_pattern = "**/controllers/**/*_spec.rb, **/routing/**/*_spec.rb"
+    config.filter_run_excluding rails: true
+  end
 
   # whitelist codeclimate.com so test coverage can be reported
   config.after(:suite) do
diff --git a/spec/support/shared_validator_specs.rb b/spec/support/shared_validator_specs.rb
index 1a09655..d539b16 100644
--- a/spec/support/shared_validator_specs.rb
+++ b/spec/support/shared_validator_specs.rb
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ shared_examples "a boolean validator" do
   end
 
   it "must not be an arbitrary string or other object" do
-    ["asdf", Time.zone.today, 1234].each do |val|
+    ["asdf", Date.today, 1234].each do |val|
       validator = described_class.new(entity_stub(entity, property => val))
 
       expect(validator).not_to be_valid
diff --git a/test/dummy/config/initializers/diaspora_federation.rb b/test/dummy/config/initializers/diaspora_federation.rb
index d94c9a6..430b5e8 100644
--- a/test/dummy/config/initializers/diaspora_federation.rb
+++ b/test/dummy/config/initializers/diaspora_federation.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require "diaspora_federation/discovery"
+require "diaspora_federation"
 
 ca_file = if File.file?("/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt")
             # For Debian, Ubuntu, Archlinux, Gentoo