diff --git a/.rspec b/.rspec
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c18f1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.rspec
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+--format documentation
+--color
diff --git a/spec/spec.opts b/spec/spec.opts
deleted file mode 100644
index 5b2e8d9..0000000
--- a/spec/spec.opts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
---format specdoc
---color
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 4701020..e5e1627 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
-# require "rubygems"
-# require File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../lib/redistat"
+# add project-relative load paths
 $LOAD_PATH.unshift(File.dirname(__FILE__))
 $LOAD_PATH.unshift(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib'))
+
+# require stuff
 require 'redistat'
-require 'spec'
-require 'spec/autorun'
-
-Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
-  
-end
-
+require 'rspec'
+require 'rspec/autorun'
 
+# use the test Redistat instance
 Redistat.connect({:port => 8379, :db => 15})
-Redistat.flush
\ No newline at end of file
+Redistat.flush