diff --git a/repo2docker/buildpacks/base.py b/repo2docker/buildpacks/base.py
index c587e94c..abb88376 100644
--- a/repo2docker/buildpacks/base.py
+++ b/repo2docker/buildpacks/base.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import re
 import docker
 
 TEMPLATE = r"""
-FROM buildpack-deps:zesty
+FROM buildpack-deps:artful
 
 # Set up locales properly
 RUN apt-get update && \
@@ -151,7 +151,6 @@ class BuildPack(LoggingConfigurable):
             # FIXME: Use npm from nodesource!
             # Everything seems to depend on npm these days, unfortunately.
             "npm",
-            "nodejs-legacy"
         },
         help="""
         Base set of apt packages that are installed for all images.
diff --git a/tests/external/datasci.repos.yaml b/tests/external/datasci.repos.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index aeeed4e0..00000000
--- a/tests/external/datasci.repos.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-# A bunch of external datascience related repos we care about!
-- name: Jake's Data Science Book
-  url: https://github.com/jakevdp/PythonDataScienceHandbook
-  ref: de0cc6bd31
-  verify: python -c 'import matplotlib'
diff --git a/tests/memlimit/dockerfile/Dockerfile b/tests/memlimit/dockerfile/Dockerfile
index 62275bba..0cb02777 100644
--- a/tests/memlimit/dockerfile/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/memlimit/dockerfile/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM ubuntu:zesty
+FROM ubuntu:artful
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install --yes python3
 
diff --git a/tests/venv/default/verify b/tests/venv/default/verify
index 73190acb..f815f7b9 100755
--- a/tests/venv/default/verify
+++ b/tests/venv/default/verify
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 # Verify that the default just provides a py3 environment with jupyter
 import sys
 
-assert sys.version_info[:2] == (3, 5)
+assert sys.version_info[:2] == (3, 6)
 import jupyter
diff --git a/tests/venv/numpy/verify b/tests/venv/numpy/verify
index 660c1f48..4ad54bfd 100755
--- a/tests/venv/numpy/verify
+++ b/tests/venv/numpy/verify
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 import sys
 
-assert sys.version_info[:2] == (3, 5)
+assert sys.version_info[:2] == (3, 6)
 
 import numpy