diff --git a/packaging/debian/debian/changelog b/packaging/debian/debian/changelog
index 1c743f3..7a0e681 100644
--- a/packaging/debian/debian/changelog
+++ b/packaging/debian/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+yamllint (1.8.1-1) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New upstream version 1.8.1
+  * Add myself as Uploader
+  * Depend on python3-pkg-resources (Closes: #860075)
+  * Build-Depend on python3-pathspec
+  * Add patch to use python3 in tests
+  * debian/control: set testsuite to autopkgtest-pkg-python
+  * Update Standards-Version: 4.1.1 (no changes needed)
+
+ -- Philipp Huebner <debalance@debian.org>  Wed, 04 Oct 2017 18:50:29 +0200
+
 yamllint (1.5.0-1) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * Output color only on TTY
diff --git a/packaging/debian/debian/control b/packaging/debian/debian/control
index 743de8f..a2f2ab1 100644
--- a/packaging/debian/debian/control
+++ b/packaging/debian/debian/control
@@ -2,17 +2,20 @@ Source: yamllint
 Section: devel
 Priority: optional
 Maintainer: Adrien Vergé <adrienverge@gmail.com>
+Uploaders: Philipp Huebner <debalance@debian.org>
 Build-Depends:
  debhelper (>=9),
  python3-all,
  python3-nose,
+ python3-pathspec,
  python3-setuptools,
  python3-sphinx,
  python3-yaml,
-Standards-Version: 3.9.8
+Standards-Version: 4.1.1
 Homepage: https://github.com/adrienverge/yamllint
 Vcs-Git: https://github.com/adrienverge/yamllint.git -b packaging
 Vcs-Browser: https://github.com/adrienverge/yamllint/tree/packaging
+Testsuite: autopkgtest-pkg-python
 
 Package: yamllint
 Architecture: all
@@ -20,6 +23,7 @@ Depends:
  ${misc:Depends},
  ${python3:Depends},
  ${shlibs:Depends},
+ python3-pkg-resources
 Description: Linter for YAML files
  yamllint does not only check for syntax validity, but for weirdnesses like key
  repetition and cosmetic problems such as lines length, trailing spaces,
diff --git a/packaging/debian/debian/patches/fix-makefile.patch b/packaging/debian/debian/patches/fix-makefile.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c97a7a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/debian/debian/patches/fix-makefile.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+Description: use python3 instead of python in tests
+ On Debian systems python is still python2, so use python3 explicitely instead
+Author: Philipp Huebner <debalance@debian.org>
+
+Index: yamllint/tests/test_module.py
+===================================================================
+--- yamllint.orig/tests/test_module.py
++++ yamllint/tests/test_module.py
+@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class ModuleTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+ 
+     def test_run_module_no_args(self):
+         with self.assertRaises(subprocess.CalledProcessError) as ctx:
+-            subprocess.check_output(['python', '-m', 'yamllint'],
++            subprocess.check_output(['python3', '-m', 'yamllint'],
+                                     stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+         self.assertEqual(ctx.exception.returncode, 2)
+         self.assertRegexpMatches(ctx.exception.output.decode(),
+@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class ModuleTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+ 
+     def test_run_module_on_bad_dir(self):
+         with self.assertRaises(subprocess.CalledProcessError) as ctx:
+-            subprocess.check_output(['python', '-m', 'yamllint',
++            subprocess.check_output(['python3', '-m', 'yamllint',
+                                      '/does/not/exist'],
+                                     stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+         self.assertRegexpMatches(ctx.exception.output.decode(),
+@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class ModuleTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+ 
+     def test_run_module_on_file(self):
+         out = subprocess.check_output(
+-            ['python', '-m', 'yamllint', os.path.join(self.wd, 'warn.yaml')])
++            ['python3', '-m', 'yamllint', os.path.join(self.wd, 'warn.yaml')])
+         lines = out.decode().splitlines()
+         self.assertIn('/warn.yaml', lines[0])
+         self.assertEqual('\n'.join(lines[1:]),
+@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class ModuleTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+ 
+     def test_run_module_on_dir(self):
+         with self.assertRaises(subprocess.CalledProcessError) as ctx:
+-            subprocess.check_output(['python', '-m', 'yamllint', self.wd])
++            subprocess.check_output(['python3', '-m', 'yamllint', self.wd])
+         self.assertEqual(ctx.exception.returncode, 1)
+ 
+         files = ctx.exception.output.decode().split('\n\n')
diff --git a/packaging/debian/debian/patches/series b/packaging/debian/debian/patches/series
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6d2ef7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/debian/debian/patches/series
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+fix-makefile.patch