diff --git a/test/test.py b/test/test.py
index 5a015ea..24e7c4e 100755
--- a/test/test.py
+++ b/test/test.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
 #
 # Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
 # or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
@@ -18,12 +18,13 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 
-# Apache Thrift - integration test suite
+#
+# Apache Thrift - integration (cross) test suite
 #
 # tests different server-client, protocol and transport combinations
 #
-# This script supports python 2.7 and later.
-# python 3.x is recommended for better stability.
+# This script requires python 3.x due to the improvements in
+# subprocess management that are needed for reliability.
 #
 
 from __future__ import print_function
@@ -38,6 +39,12 @@
 import crossrunner
 from crossrunner.compat import path_join
 
+# 3.3 introduced subprocess timeouts on waiting for child
+req_version = (3, 3)
+cur_version = sys.version_info
+assert (cur_version >= req_version), "Python 3.3 or later is required for proper operation."
+
+
 ROOT_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
 TEST_DIR_RELATIVE = 'test'
 TEST_DIR = path_join(ROOT_DIR, TEST_DIR_RELATIVE)
@@ -161,9 +168,11 @@
             options.update_failures, options.print_failures)
     elif options.features is not None:
         features = options.features or ['.*']
-        res = run_feature_tests(server_match, features, options.jobs, options.skip_known_failures, options.retry_count, options.regex)
+        res = run_feature_tests(server_match, features, options.jobs,
+                                options.skip_known_failures, options.retry_count, options.regex)
     else:
-        res = run_cross_tests(server_match, client_match, options.jobs, options.skip_known_failures, options.retry_count, options.regex)
+        res = run_cross_tests(server_match, client_match, options.jobs,
+                              options.skip_known_failures, options.retry_count, options.regex)
     return 0 if res else 1