diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/fixture.py b/rhodecode/tests/fixture.py
--- a/rhodecode/tests/fixture.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/fixture.py
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ import os
 import time
 import tempfile
 import shutil
-
-import configobj
+import configparser
 
 from rhodecode.model.settings import SettingsModel
 from rhodecode.tests import *
@@ -76,17 +75,20 @@ class TestINI(object):
         self.destroy()
 
     def create(self):
-        config = configobj.ConfigObj(
-            self.ini_file_path, file_error=True, write_empty_values=True)
+        parser = configparser.ConfigParser()
+        parser.read(self.ini_file_path)
 
         for data in self.ini_params:
-            section, ini_params = data.items()[0]
+            section, ini_params = list(data.items())[0]
+
             for key, val in ini_params.items():
-                config[section][key] = val
+                parser[section][key] = str(val)
+
         with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
+                mode='w',
                 prefix=self.new_path_prefix, suffix='.ini', dir=self._dir,
                 delete=False) as new_ini_file:
-            config.write(new_ini_file)
+            parser.write(new_ini_file)
             self.new_path = new_ini_file.name
 
         return self.new_path
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/server_utils.py b/rhodecode/tests/server_utils.py
--- a/rhodecode/tests/server_utils.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/server_utils.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import time
 import tempfile
 import pytest
 import subprocess
-import configobj
 import logging
 from urllib.request import urlopen
 from urllib.error import URLError
@@ -45,15 +44,15 @@ def get_port(pyramid_config):
 
 def get_host_url(pyramid_config):
     """Construct the host url using the port in the test configuration."""
-    return '127.0.0.1:%s' % get_port(pyramid_config)
+    port = get_port(pyramid_config)
+    return f'127.0.0.1:{port}'
 
 
 def assert_no_running_instance(url):
     if is_url_reachable(url):
-        print("Hint: Usually this means another instance of server "
-              "is running in the background at %s." % url)
-        pytest.fail(
-            "Port is not free at %s, cannot start server at" % url)
+        print(f"Hint: Usually this means another instance of server "
+              f"is running in the background at {url}.")
+        pytest.fail(f"Port is not free at {url}, cannot start server at")
 
 
 class ServerBase(object):
@@ -63,8 +62,10 @@ class ServerBase(object):
 
     def __init__(self, config_file, log_file):
         self.config_file = config_file
-        config_data = configobj.ConfigObj(config_file)
-        self._config = config_data['server:main']
+        config = configparser.ConfigParser()
+        config.read(config_file)
+
+        self._config = {k: v for k, v in config['server:main'].items()}
 
         self._args = []
         self.log_file = log_file or os.path.join(
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ class ServerBase(object):
             self.__class__.__name__, config_file))
 
         if not os.path.isfile(config_file):
-            raise RuntimeError('Failed to get config at {}'.format(config_file))
+            raise RuntimeError(f'Failed to get config at {config_file}')
 
     @property
     def command(self):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ setup_requirements = ['PasteScript']
 install_requirements = _get_requirements(
     'requirements.txt', exclude=['setuptools', 'entrypoints'])
 test_requirements = _get_requirements(
-    'requirements_test.txt', extras=['configobj'])
+    'requirements_test.txt')
 
 
 def get_version():