diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d494b999a..0373a2bb0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ LAST_TAG := $(shell git describe --tags --abbrev=0)
 NEW_TAG := $(shell echo $(LAST_TAG) | perl -lpe 's/v//; $$_ += 0.01; $$_ = sprintf("v%.2f", $$_)')
 GO_VERSION := $(shell go version)
 GO_FILES := $(shell go list ./... | grep -v /vendor/ )
-GO_LATEST := $(findstring go1.9,$(GO_VERSION))
+# Run full tests if go >= go1.9
+FULL_TESTS := $(shell go version | perl -lne 'print "go$$1.$$2" if /go(\d+)\.(\d+)/ && ($$1 > 1 || $$2 >= 9)')
 BETA_URL := https://beta.rclone.org/$(TAG)/
 # Pass in GOTAGS=xyz on the make command line to set build tags
 ifdef GOTAGS
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ vars:
 	@echo LAST_TAG="'$(LAST_TAG)'"
 	@echo NEW_TAG="'$(NEW_TAG)'"
 	@echo GO_VERSION="'$(GO_VERSION)'"
-	@echo GO_LATEST="'$(GO_LATEST)'"
+	@echo FULL_TESTS="'$(FULL_TESTS)'"
 	@echo BETA_URL="'$(BETA_URL)'"
 
 version:
@@ -40,24 +41,24 @@ test:	rclone
 # Quick test
 quicktest:
 	RCLONE_CONFIG="/notfound" go test $(BUILDTAGS) $(GO_FILES)
-ifdef GO_LATEST
+ifdef FULL_TESTS
 	RCLONE_CONFIG="/notfound" go test $(BUILDTAGS) -cpu=2 -race $(GO_FILES)
 endif
 
 # Do source code quality checks
 check:	rclone
-ifdef GO_LATEST
+ifdef FULL_TESTS
 	go vet $(BUILDTAGS) -printfuncs Debugf,Infof,Logf,Errorf ./...
 	errcheck $(BUILDTAGS) ./...
 	find . -name \*.go | grep -v /vendor/ | xargs goimports -d | grep . ; test $$? -eq 1
 	go list ./... | xargs -n1 golint | grep -E -v '(StorageUrl|CdnUrl)' ; test $$? -eq 1
 else
-	@echo Skipping tests as not on Go stable
+	@echo Skipping source quality tests as version of go too old
 endif
 
 # Get the build dependencies
 build_dep:
-ifdef GO_LATEST
+ifdef FULL_TESTS
 	go get -u github.com/kisielk/errcheck
 	go get -u golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports
 	go get -u github.com/golang/lint/golint
@@ -126,10 +127,10 @@ upload_beta:
 	@echo Beta release ready at $(BETA_URL)
 
 compile_all:
-ifdef GO_LATEST
+ifdef FULL_TESTS
 	go run bin/cross-compile.go -parallel 8 -compile-only $(BUILDTAGS) $(TAG)β
 else
-	@echo Skipping compile all as not on Go stable
+	@echo Skipping compile all as version of go too old
 endif
 
 travis_beta: