diff --git a/docs/release_notes.rst b/docs/release_notes.rst
index 42163ae7..4c1c8646 100644
--- a/docs/release_notes.rst
+++ b/docs/release_notes.rst
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ v12.0.0
 -  Some deprecated functions in ``ocrmypdf.optimize`` were removed.
 -  The ``ocrmypdf.leptonica`` module is now deprecated.
 -  Continuous integration moved to GitHub Actions.
+-  We no longer depend on ``pytest_helpers_namespace`` for testing.
 
 **New features**
 
diff --git a/requirements/test.txt b/requirements/test.txt
index fea870d7..72225e2d 100644
--- a/requirements/test.txt
+++ b/requirements/test.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 pytest >= 6.0.0
-pytest-helpers-namespace >= 2019.1.8
 pytest-xdist >= 2.2.0
 pytest-cov >= 2.11.1
 python-xmp-toolkit == 2.0.1  # requires apt-get install libexempi3
diff --git a/src/ocrmypdf/RELEASE.md b/src/ocrmypdf/RELEASE.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..41a40e97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ocrmypdf/RELEASE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# Release checklist
+
+## Patch release
+
+- Check `pytest`
+
+- Update release notes
+
+## Minor release
+
+## Major release
+
+- Run `pre-commit autoupdate`
+
+- Check README.md
+
+- Check setup.py
+
+    - Are classifiers up to date?
+    - Is `python_requires` correct?
+    - Python 3.6 is EOL on December 2021-12. Could drop support then.
+    - Can we tighten any `install_requires` dependencies?
+
+- Search for old version shims we can remove
+
+    - "shim"
+    - ` pikepdf.__version__`
+
+- Search for deprecation: search all files for deprec*, etc.
+
+- Check requirements/*
+
+- Delete `tests/cache`, do `pytest --runslow`, and update cache.
+
+- Do `pytest --cov-report html`
diff --git a/tests/__init__.py b/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f714d74d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# © 2021 James R. Barlow: github.com/jbarlow83
+#
+# This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+# License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+# file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+
+# Empty __init__.py file
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 70741548..d3b3ebb7 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -20,37 +20,29 @@ from ocrmypdf._plugin_manager import get_parser_options_plugins
 pytest_plugins = ['helpers_namespace']
 
 
-# pylint: disable=E1101
-# pytest.helpers is dynamic so it confuses pylint
-
 if sys.version_info < (3, 5):
     print("Requires Python 3.5+")
     sys.exit(1)
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def is_linux():
     return platform.system() == 'Linux'
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def is_macos():
     return platform.system() == 'Darwin'
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def running_in_docker():
     # Docker creates a file named /.dockerenv (newer versions) or
     # /.dockerinit (older) -- this is undocumented, not an offical test
     return Path('/.dockerenv').exists() or Path('/.dockerinit').exists()
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def running_in_travis():
     return os.environ.get('TRAVIS') == 'true'
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def have_unpaper():
     try:
         unpaper.version()
@@ -93,7 +85,6 @@ def no_outpdf(tmp_path):
     return tmp_path / 'no_output.pdf'
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def check_ocrmypdf(input_file, output_file, *args):
     """Run ocrmypdf and confirmed that a valid file was created"""
     args = [str(input_file), str(output_file)] + [
@@ -111,7 +102,6 @@ def check_ocrmypdf(input_file, output_file, *args):
     return output_file
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def run_ocrmypdf_api(input_file, output_file, *args):
     """Run ocrmypdf via API and let caller deal with results
 
@@ -127,7 +117,6 @@ def run_ocrmypdf_api(input_file, output_file, *args):
     return api.run_pipeline(options, plugin_manager=None, api=False)
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def run_ocrmypdf(input_file, output_file, *args, text=True):
     "Run ocrmypdf and let caller deal with results"
 
@@ -150,7 +139,6 @@ def run_ocrmypdf(input_file, output_file, *args, text=True):
     return p, p.stdout, p.stderr
 
 
-@pytest.helpers.register
 def first_page_dimensions(pdf):
     info = pdfinfo.PdfInfo(pdf)
     page0 = info[0]
diff --git a/tests/test_acroform.py b/tests/test_acroform.py
index f6932ebe..910bacc8 100644
--- a/tests/test_acroform.py
+++ b/tests/test_acroform.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import pytest
 
 import ocrmypdf
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/test_completion.py b/tests/test_completion.py
index 4ac753b8..20d716ff 100644
--- a/tests/test_completion.py
+++ b/tests/test_completion.py
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ from subprocess import PIPE, run
 
 import pytest
 
+from .conftest import running_in_docker
+
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(
-    pytest.helpers.running_in_docker(),  # pylint: disable=no-member
+    running_in_docker(),
     reason="docker can't complete",
 )
 
diff --git a/tests/test_ghostscript.py b/tests/test_ghostscript.py
index 37a1a1e9..4995fb94 100644
--- a/tests/test_ghostscript.py
+++ b/tests/test_ghostscript.py
@@ -16,9 +16,7 @@ from ocrmypdf._exec.ghostscript import rasterize_pdf
 from ocrmypdf.exceptions import ExitCode
 from ocrmypdf.helpers import Resolution
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf  # pylint: disable=no-member
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf  # pylint: disable=no-member
-run_ocrmypdf_api = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf_api  # pylint: disable=no-member
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf_api
 
 # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
 
diff --git a/tests/test_helpers.py b/tests/test_helpers.py
index f0a5e4d0..7b885221 100644
--- a/tests/test_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/test_helpers.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import pytest
 
 from ocrmypdf import helpers as helpers
 
+from .conftest import running_in_docker
+
 
 class TestSafeSymlink:
     def test_safe_symlink_link_self(self, tmp_path, caplog):
@@ -58,9 +60,7 @@ def test_deprecated():
         assert old_function() == 42
 
 
-skipif_docker = pytest.mark.skipif(
-    pytest.helpers.running_in_docker(), reason="fails on Docker"
-)
+skipif_docker = pytest.mark.skipif(running_in_docker(), reason="fails on Docker")
 
 
 class TestFileIsWritable:
diff --git a/tests/test_hocrtransform.py b/tests/test_hocrtransform.py
index 136c9a49..b0046e94 100644
--- a/tests/test_hocrtransform.py
+++ b/tests/test_hocrtransform.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ from ocrmypdf import hocrtransform
 from ocrmypdf._exec.tesseract import HOCR_TEMPLATE
 from ocrmypdf.helpers import check_pdf
 
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf
+
 
 def text_from_pdf(filename):
     output_string = StringIO()
@@ -37,8 +39,6 @@ def text_from_pdf(filename):
 
 # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf  # pylint: disable=no-member
-
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def blank_hocr(tmp_path):
diff --git a/tests/test_image_input.py b/tests/test_image_input.py
index 5efad8c0..ad738f84 100644
--- a/tests/test_image_input.py
+++ b/tests/test_image_input.py
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@ from PIL import Image
 
 import ocrmypdf
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf_api = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf_api
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf_api
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 33d45fba..4f5aedcf 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -24,12 +24,18 @@ from ocrmypdf.pdfa import file_claims_pdfa
 from ocrmypdf.pdfinfo import Colorspace, Encoding, PdfInfo
 from ocrmypdf.subprocess import get_version
 
-# pytest.helpers is dynamic
-# pylint: disable=no-member,redefined-outer-name
+from .conftest import (
+    check_ocrmypdf,
+    first_page_dimensions,
+    have_unpaper,
+    is_macos,
+    run_ocrmypdf,
+    run_ocrmypdf_api,
+    running_in_docker,
+    running_in_travis,
+)
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf_api = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf_api
+# pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
 
 
 RENDERERS = ['hocr', 'sandwich']
@@ -155,7 +161,7 @@ def test_maximum_options(renderer, output_type, resources, outpdf):
         resources / 'multipage.pdf',
         outpdf,
         '-d',
-        '-ci' if pytest.helpers.have_unpaper() else None,
+        '-ci' if have_unpaper() else None,
         '-f',
         '-k',
         '--oversample',
@@ -208,7 +214,7 @@ def test_force_ocr_on_pdf_with_no_images(resources, no_outpdf):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
-    pytest.helpers.is_macos() and pytest.helpers.running_in_travis(),
+    is_macos() and running_in_travis(),
     reason="takes too long to install language packs in Travis macOS homebrew",
 )
 def test_german(resources, outdir):
@@ -269,9 +275,7 @@ def test_input_file_not_found(caplog, no_outpdf):
     assert input_file in caplog.text
 
 
-@pytest.mark.skipif(
-    os.name == 'nt' or pytest.helpers.running_in_docker(), reason="chmod"
-)
+@pytest.mark.skipif(os.name == 'nt' or running_in_docker(), reason="chmod")
 def test_input_file_not_readable(caplog, resources, outdir, no_outpdf):
     input_file = outdir / 'trivial.pdf'
     shutil.copy(resources / 'trivial.pdf', input_file)
@@ -519,9 +523,6 @@ def test_form_xobject(resources, outpdf):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('renderer', RENDERERS)
 def test_pagesize_consistency(renderer, resources, outpdf):
-
-    first_page_dimensions = pytest.helpers.first_page_dimensions
-
     infile = resources / '3small.pdf'
 
     before_dims = first_page_dimensions(infile)
@@ -531,10 +532,10 @@ def test_pagesize_consistency(renderer, resources, outpdf):
         outpdf,
         '--pdf-renderer',
         renderer,
-        '--clean' if pytest.helpers.have_unpaper() else None,
+        '--clean' if have_unpaper() else None,
         '--deskew',
         '--remove-background',
-        '--clean-final' if pytest.helpers.have_unpaper() else None,
+        '--clean-final' if have_unpaper() else None,
         '--pages',
         '1',
     )
diff --git a/tests/test_metadata.py b/tests/test_metadata.py
index e6496d36..87df840a 100644
--- a/tests/test_metadata.py
+++ b/tests/test_metadata.py
@@ -24,19 +24,16 @@ from ocrmypdf.exceptions import ExitCode
 from ocrmypdf.pdfa import SRGB_ICC_PROFILE, file_claims_pdfa, generate_pdfa_ps
 from ocrmypdf.pdfinfo import PdfInfo
 
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf
+
 try:
     import fitz
 except ImportError:
     fitz = None
 
-# pytest.helpers is dynamic
-# pylint: disable=no-member
 
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.filterwarnings('ignore:.*XMLParser.*:DeprecationWarning')
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
-
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("output_type", ['pdfa', 'pdf'])
 def test_preserve_docinfo(output_type, resources, outpdf):
diff --git a/tests/test_optimize.py b/tests/test_optimize.py
index a319b812..96cb803b 100644
--- a/tests/test_optimize.py
+++ b/tests/test_optimize.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from ocrmypdf._exec import jbig2enc, pngquant
 from ocrmypdf._exec.ghostscript import rasterize_pdf
 from ocrmypdf.helpers import Resolution
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf  # pylint: disable=e1101
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf
 
 needs_pngquant = pytest.mark.skipif(
     not pngquant.available(), reason="pngquant not installed"
diff --git a/tests/test_pdfa.py b/tests/test_pdfa.py
index d0c269ff..75b22a57 100644
--- a/tests/test_pdfa.py
+++ b/tests/test_pdfa.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import pikepdf
 import pytest
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('optimize', (0, 3))
diff --git a/tests/test_preprocessing.py b/tests/test_preprocessing.py
index 2fc81c10..593505e8 100644
--- a/tests/test_preprocessing.py
+++ b/tests/test_preprocessing.py
@@ -15,13 +15,7 @@ from ocrmypdf.helpers import Resolution
 from ocrmypdf.leptonica import Pix
 from ocrmypdf.pdfinfo import PdfInfo
 
-# pytest.helpers is dynamic
-# pylint: disable=no-member,redefined-outer-name
-
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf_api = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf_api
-
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, have_unpaper, run_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf_api
 
 RENDERERS = ['hocr', 'sandwich']
 
@@ -96,7 +90,7 @@ def test_exotic_image(pdf, renderer, output_type, resources, outdir):
     check_ocrmypdf(
         resources / pdf,
         outfile,
-        '-dc' if pytest.helpers.have_unpaper() else '-d',
+        '-dc' if have_unpaper() else '-d',
         '-v',
         '1',
         '--output-type',
diff --git a/tests/test_rotation.py b/tests/test_rotation.py
index b826a09e..cb7fcb7b 100644
--- a/tests/test_rotation.py
+++ b/tests/test_rotation.py
@@ -21,18 +21,16 @@ from ocrmypdf._plugin_manager import get_plugin_manager
 from ocrmypdf.helpers import Resolution
 from ocrmypdf.pdfinfo import PdfInfo
 
-# pytest.helpers is dynamic
-# pylint: disable=no-member
-# pylint: disable=w0612
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf
+
+# pylintx: disable=unused-variable
+
 
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(
     leptonica.get_leptonica_version() < 'leptonica-1.72',
     reason="Leptonica is too old, correlation doesn't work",
 )
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
-
 
 RENDERERS = ['hocr', 'sandwich']
 
diff --git a/tests/test_stdio.py b/tests/test_stdio.py
index cfd7f7b3..2e43cff5 100644
--- a/tests/test_stdio.py
+++ b/tests/test_stdio.py
@@ -15,11 +15,7 @@ import pytest
 from ocrmypdf.exceptions import ExitCode
 from ocrmypdf.helpers import check_pdf
 
-# pytest.helpers is dynamic
-# pylint: disable=no-member,redefined-outer-name
-
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf_api = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
+from .conftest import run_ocrmypdf
 
 
 def test_stdin(ocrmypdf_exec, resources, outpdf):
diff --git a/tests/test_tesseract.py b/tests/test_tesseract.py
index f7331e48..d4d1a521 100644
--- a/tests/test_tesseract.py
+++ b/tests/test_tesseract.py
@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@ from ocrmypdf import pdfinfo
 from ocrmypdf._exec import tesseract
 from ocrmypdf.exceptions import MissingDependencyError
 
-# pylint: disable=no-member,redefined-outer-name
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
+# pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('basename', ['graph_ocred.pdf', 'cardinal.pdf'])
diff --git a/tests/test_unpaper.py b/tests/test_unpaper.py
index eefe9852..72a32c5a 100644
--- a/tests/test_unpaper.py
+++ b/tests/test_unpaper.py
@@ -14,13 +14,9 @@ from ocrmypdf._plugin_manager import get_parser_options_plugins
 from ocrmypdf._validation import check_options
 from ocrmypdf.exceptions import ExitCode, MissingDependencyError
 
-# pytest.helpers is dynamic
-# pylint: disable=no-member,redefined-outer-name
-# pylint: disable=w0612
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, have_unpaper, run_ocrmypdf
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf
-have_unpaper = pytest.helpers.have_unpaper
+# pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
 
 
 def test_no_unpaper(resources, no_outpdf):
diff --git a/tests/test_userunit.py b/tests/test_userunit.py
index 6926d160..e3b9fe31 100644
--- a/tests/test_userunit.py
+++ b/tests/test_userunit.py
@@ -12,9 +12,7 @@ import pytest
 from ocrmypdf.exceptions import ExitCode
 from ocrmypdf.pdfinfo import PdfInfo
 
-check_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.check_ocrmypdf  # pylint: disable=no-member
-run_ocrmypdf = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf  # pylint: disable=no-member
-run_ocrmypdf_api = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf_api  # pylint: disable=no-member
+from .conftest import check_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf, run_ocrmypdf_api
 
 # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
 
diff --git a/tests/test_validation.py b/tests/test_validation.py
index 7b2f1ead..81a4e5d5 100644
--- a/tests/test_validation.py
+++ b/tests/test_validation.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from ocrmypdf.cli import get_parser
 from ocrmypdf.exceptions import BadArgsError, MissingDependencyError
 from ocrmypdf.pdfinfo import PdfInfo
 
-run_ocrmypdf_api = pytest.helpers.run_ocrmypdf_api
+from .conftest import run_ocrmypdf_api
 
 
 def make_opts_pm(input_file='a.pdf', output_file='b.pdf', language='eng', **kwargs):