diff --git a/bin/fail2ban-testcases b/bin/fail2ban-testcases
index 7e5f7aca..76a8e6ec 100755
--- a/bin/fail2ban-testcases
+++ b/bin/fail2ban-testcases
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ else: # pragma: no cover
 	# ticking, unless like with '-l critical' which would be silent
 	# unless error occurs
 	logSys.setLevel(getattr(logging, 'CRITICAL'))
+opts.log_level = logSys.level
 
 # Add the default logging handler
 stdout = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
@@ -140,7 +141,7 @@ logSys.addHandler(stdout)
 #
 # Let know the version
 #
-if not opts.log_level or opts.log_level != 'critical': # pragma: no cover
+if opts.log_level != logging.CRITICAL: # pragma: no cover
 	print("Fail2ban %s test suite. Python %s. Please wait..." \
 			% (version, str(sys.version).replace('\n', '')))
 
diff --git a/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py b/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py
index 7028eeb1..7558851a 100644
--- a/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py
+++ b/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ else:
 def _getSysPythonVersion():
 	return _sh_call("fail2ban-python -c 'import sys; print(tuple(sys.version_info))'")
 
+
 class SetupTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
 	def setUp(self):
@@ -108,9 +109,11 @@ class SetupTest(unittest.TestCase):
 		if not self.setup:
 			return			  # if verbose skip didn't work out
 		tmp = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+		# suppress stdout (and stderr) if not heavydebug
+		supdbgout = ' >/dev/null' if unittest.F2B.log_level >= logging.DEBUG else '' # HEAVYDEBUG
 		try:
-			os.system("%s %s install --root=%s >/dev/null"
-					  % (sys.executable, self.setup, tmp))
+			os.system("%s %s install --disable-2to3 --dry-run --root=%s%s"
+					  % (sys.executable, self.setup, tmp, supdbgout))
 
 			def strippath(l):
 				return [x[len(tmp)+1:] for x in l]
@@ -161,8 +164,8 @@ class SetupTest(unittest.TestCase):
 			# clean up
 			shutil.rmtree(tmp)
 			# remove build directory
-			os.system("%s %s clean --all >/dev/null 2>&1"
-					  % (sys.executable, self.setup))
+			os.system("%s %s clean --all%s"
+					  % (sys.executable, self.setup, (supdbgout + ' 2>&1') if supdbgout else ''))
 
 
 class TestsUtilsTest(LogCaptureTestCase):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f9f57976..fbffbaf8 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -31,17 +31,19 @@ except ImportError:
 	setuptools = None
 	from distutils.core import setup
 
+# all versions
+from distutils.command.build_py import build_py
+from distutils.command.build_scripts import build_scripts
+from distutils.command.install_scripts import install_scripts
+from distutils.command.install import install
 try:
 	# python 3.x
-	from distutils.command.build_py import build_py_2to3 as build_py
-	from distutils.command.build_scripts \
-		import build_scripts_2to3 as build_scripts
+	from distutils.command.build_py import build_py_2to3
+	from distutils.command.build_scripts import build_scripts_2to3
+	_2to3 = True
 except ImportError:
 	# python 2.x
-	from distutils.command.build_py import build_py
-	from distutils.command.build_scripts import build_scripts
-# all versions
-from distutils.command.install_scripts import install_scripts
+	_2to3 = False
 
 import os
 from os.path import isfile, join, isdir, realpath
@@ -66,6 +68,27 @@ class install_scripts_f2b(install_scripts):
 		updatePyExec(bindir)
 		return outputs
 
+# Wrapper to specify fail2ban own options:
+class install_command_f2b(install):
+	user_options = install.user_options + [
+		('disable-2to3', None, 'Specify to deactivate 2to3, e.g. if the install runs from fail2ban test-cases.'),
+	]
+	def initialize_options(self):
+		self.disable_2to3 = None
+		install.initialize_options(self)
+	def finalize_options(self):
+		global _2to3
+		## in the test cases 2to3 should be already done (fail2ban-2to3):
+		if self.disable_2to3:
+			_2to3 = False
+		if _2to3:
+			cmdclass = self.distribution.cmdclass
+			cmdclass['build_py'] = build_py_2to3
+			cmdclass['build_scripts'] = build_scripts_2to3
+		install.finalize_options(self)
+	def run(self):
+		install.run(self)
+
 
 # Update fail2ban-python env to current python version (where f2b-modules located/installed)
 rootdir = os.path.realpath(os.path.dirname(
@@ -143,7 +166,7 @@ setup(
 	platforms = "Posix",
 	cmdclass = {
 		'build_py': build_py, 'build_scripts': build_scripts, 
-		'install_scripts': install_scripts_f2b
+		'install_scripts': install_scripts_f2b, 'install': install_command_f2b
 	},
 	scripts = [
 		'bin/fail2ban-client',