diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e60f57517ad0..a57402d3d851 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+ROOTDIR = $(CURDIR)
+
 ifndef config
 ifdef CXXNET_CONFIG
 	config = $(CXXNET_CONFIG)
@@ -32,14 +34,13 @@ ifeq ($(DEBUG), 1)
 else
 	CFLAGS += -O3
 endif
-CFLAGS += -I./mshadow/ -I./dmlc-core/include -fPIC -Iinclude $(MSHADOW_CFLAGS)
+CFLAGS += -I$(ROOTDIR)/mshadow/ -I$(ROOTDIR)/dmlc-core/include -fPIC -Iinclude $(MSHADOW_CFLAGS)
 LDFLAGS = -pthread $(MSHADOW_LDFLAGS) $(DMLC_LDFLAGS)
 ifeq ($(DEBUG), 1)
 	NVCCFLAGS = -g -G -O0 -ccbin $(CXX) $(MSHADOW_NVCCFLAGS)
 else
 	NVCCFLAGS = --use_fast_math -g -O3 -ccbin $(CXX) $(MSHADOW_NVCCFLAGS)
 endif
-ROOTDIR = $(CURDIR)
 
 ifndef LINT_LANG
 	LINT_LANG="all"
@@ -218,6 +219,12 @@ rpkg:	roxygen
 	cp -rf dmlc-core/include/* R-package/inst/include/
 	R CMD build --no-build-vignettes R-package
 
+scalapkg:
+	(cd scala-package; mvn clean package -Dcxx="$(CXX)" -Dcflags="$(CFLAGS)" -Dldflags="$(LDFLAGS)"; cd $(ROOTDIR))
+
+scalatest:
+	(cd scala-package; mvn integration-test -Dcxx="$(CXX)" -Dcflags="$(CFLAGS)" -Dldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" $(SCALA_TEST_ARGS); cd $(ROOTDIR))
+
 ifneq ($(EXTRA_OPERATORS),)
 clean:
 	$(RM) -r build lib bin *~ */*~ */*/*~ */*/*/*~
diff --git a/scala-package/core/pom.xml b/scala-package/core/pom.xml
index c0b2bfa696ea..984830ed9500 100644
--- a/scala-package/core/pom.xml
+++ b/scala-package/core/pom.xml
@@ -14,12 +14,23 @@
   <profiles>
     <profile>
       <id>osx-x86_64</id>
+      <activation>
+        <os>
+          <family>mac</family>
+          <arch>x86_64</arch>
+        </os>
+      </activation>
       <properties>
         <platform>osx-x86_64</platform>
       </properties>
     </profile>
     <profile>
       <id>linux-x86_64</id>
+      <activation>
+        <os>
+          <family>linux</family>
+        </os>
+      </activation>
       <properties>
         <platform>linux-x86_64</platform>
       </properties>     
diff --git a/scala-package/native/linux-x86_64/pom.xml b/scala-package/native/linux-x86_64/pom.xml
index a0dedfb8122b..4369a340f9e6 100644
--- a/scala-package/native/linux-x86_64/pom.xml
+++ b/scala-package/native/linux-x86_64/pom.xml
@@ -36,60 +36,6 @@
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
       </plugin>     
 
-      <plugin>
-        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-        <executions>
-          <execution>
-            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
-            <goals>
-              <goal>run</goal>
-            </goals>
-            <configuration>
-              <exportAntProperties>true</exportAntProperties>
-              <tasks>
-                <taskdef resource="net/sf/antcontrib/antcontrib.properties" classpathref="maven.plugin.classpath" />
-                <if>
-                  <isset property="intel" />
-                  <then>
-                    <property name="use.cblas" value="0" />
-                    <property name="use.mkl" value="1" />
-                    <property name="cflags.blas" value="-I${intel}/mkl/include" />
-                    <property name="ldflags.blas" value="-L${intel}/mkl/lib -L${intel}/lib" />
-                  </then>
-                  <else>
-                    <property name="use.cblas" value="1" />
-                    <property name="use.mkl" value="0" />
-                    <property name="cflags.blas" value="" />
-                    <if>
-                      <not>
-                        <isset property="ldflags.blas" />
-                      </not>
-                      <then>
-                        <property name="ldflags.blas" value="-lcblas" />
-                      </then>
-                    </if>
-                  </else>
-                </if>
-                <if>
-                  <not>
-                    <isset property="cxx" />
-                  </not>
-                  <then>
-                    <property name="cxx" value="g++" />
-                  </then>
-                </if>
-                <!-- echo opencv libs to a temp file and then load it into a property -->
-                <exec executable="pkg-config" output="${opencv.pkg.tmpfile}" failonerror="true">
-                  <arg line="--libs opencv" />
-                </exec>
-                <loadfile srcfile="${opencv.pkg.tmpfile}" property="ldflags.opencv" />
-                <delete file="${opencv.pkg.tmpfile}" />
-              </tasks>
-            </configuration>
-          </execution>
-        </executions>
-      </plugin>
-
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
         <artifactId>native-maven-plugin</artifactId>
@@ -111,33 +57,23 @@
           <compilerStartOptions>
             <compilerStartOption>-std=c++0x</compilerStartOption>
           </compilerStartOptions>
-          <compilerMiddleOptions>
-            <compilerMiddleOption>
-              -msse3 -funroll-loops -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unknown-pragmas -fopenmp
-            </compilerMiddleOption>
-          </compilerMiddleOptions>
           <compilerEndOptions>
             <compilerEndOption>-I../../../include</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-I../../../dmlc-core/include</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-I../../../mshadow ${cflags.blas}</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-DMSHADOW_USE_CUDA=0</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-DMSHADOW_USE_CBLAS=${use.cblas}</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-DMSHADOW_USE_MKL=${use.mkl}</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-fPIC</compilerEndOption>
-
+            <compilerEndOption>${cflags}</compilerEndOption>
           </compilerEndOptions>
           <linkerStartOptions>
             <linkerStartOption>-shared</linkerStartOption>
           </linkerStartOptions>
           <linkerMiddleOptions>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-Wl,--whole-archive</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>../../../lib/libmxnet.a</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>../../../dmlc-core/libdmlc.a</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-Wl,--no-whole-archive</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-lm -lrt -fopenmp</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>${ldflags.opencv}</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>${ldflags.blas}</linkerMiddleOption>
+            <linkerMiddleOption>${ldflags}</linkerMiddleOption>
+            <linkerMiddleOption>-fopenmp</linkerMiddleOption>
           </linkerMiddleOptions>
+          <linkerEndOptions>
+            <linkerEndOption>-Wl,--whole-archive</linkerEndOption>
+            <linkerEndOption>../../../lib/libmxnet.a</linkerEndOption>
+            <linkerEndOption>../../../dmlc-core/libdmlc.a</linkerEndOption>
+            <linkerEndOption>-Wl,--no-whole-archive</linkerEndOption>
+          </linkerEndOptions>
         </configuration>
 
         <executions>
diff --git a/scala-package/native/osx-x86_64/pom.xml b/scala-package/native/osx-x86_64/pom.xml
index b3719dcb7b38..46ab532870ab 100644
--- a/scala-package/native/osx-x86_64/pom.xml
+++ b/scala-package/native/osx-x86_64/pom.xml
@@ -36,55 +36,6 @@
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
       </plugin>
 
-      <plugin>
-        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-        <executions>
-          <execution>
-            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
-            <goals>
-              <goal>run</goal>
-            </goals>
-            <configuration>
-              <exportAntProperties>true</exportAntProperties>
-              <tasks>
-                <taskdef resource="net/sf/antcontrib/antcontrib.properties" classpathref="maven.plugin.classpath" />
-                <property environment="env"/>
-                <if>
-                  <isset property="intel" />
-                  <then>
-                    <property name="use.cblas" value="0" />
-                    <property name="use.mkl" value="1" />
-                    <property name="cflags.blas" value="-I${intel}/mkl/include" />
-                    <property name="ldflags.blas" value="-L${intel}/mkl/lib -L${intel}/lib" />
-                  </then>
-                  <else>
-                    <property name="use.cblas" value="1" />
-                    <property name="use.mkl" value="0" />
-                    <property name="cflags.blas"
-                      value="-I/System/Library/Frameworks/Accelerate.framework/Versions/Current/Frameworks/vecLib.framework/Versions/Current/Headers" />
-                    <property name="ldflags.blas" value="-framework Accelerate" />
-                  </else>
-                </if>
-                <if>
-                  <not>
-                    <isset property="cxx" />
-                  </not>
-                  <then>
-                    <property name="cxx" value="g++" />
-                  </then>
-                </if>
-                <!-- echo opencv libs to a temp file and then load it into a property -->
-                <exec executable="pkg-config" output="${opencv.pkg.tmpfile}" failonerror="true">
-                  <arg line="--libs opencv" />
-                </exec>
-                <loadfile srcfile="${opencv.pkg.tmpfile}" property="ldflags.opencv" />
-                <delete file="${opencv.pkg.tmpfile}" />
-              </tasks>
-            </configuration>
-          </execution>
-        </executions>
-      </plugin>
-
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
         <artifactId>native-maven-plugin</artifactId>
@@ -106,33 +57,23 @@
           <compilerStartOptions>
             <compilerStartOption>-std=c++0x</compilerStartOption>
           </compilerStartOptions>
-          <compilerMiddleOptions>
-            <compilerMiddleOption>
-              -msse3 -funroll-loops -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unknown-pragmas
-            </compilerMiddleOption>
-          </compilerMiddleOptions>
           <compilerEndOptions>
             <compilerEndOption>-I../../../include</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-I../../../dmlc-core/include</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-I../../../mshadow ${cflags.blas}</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-DMSHADOW_USE_CUDA=0</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-DMSHADOW_USE_CBLAS=${use.cblas}</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-DMSHADOW_USE_MKL=${use.mkl}</compilerEndOption>
-            <compilerEndOption>-fPIC</compilerEndOption>
+            <compilerEndOption>${cflags}</compilerEndOption>
           </compilerEndOptions>
           <linkerStartOptions>
             <linkerStartOption>-shared</linkerStartOption>
           </linkerStartOptions>
           <linkerMiddleOptions>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-fopenmp</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-lm</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-framework Accelerate ${ldflags.opencv}</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-framework JavaVM ${ldflags.blas}</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-Wl,-exported_symbol,_Java_*</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-Wl,-x</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>../../../dmlc-core/libdmlc.a</linkerMiddleOption>
-            <linkerMiddleOption>-force_load ../../../lib/libmxnet.a</linkerMiddleOption>
+            <linkerMiddleOption>${ldflags}</linkerMiddleOption>
           </linkerMiddleOptions>
+          <linkerEndOptions>
+            <linkerEndOption>-framework JavaVM</linkerEndOption>
+            <linkerEndOption>-Wl,-exported_symbol,_Java_*</linkerEndOption>
+            <linkerEndOption>-Wl,-x</linkerEndOption>
+            <linkerEndOption>../../../dmlc-core/libdmlc.a</linkerEndOption>
+            <linkerEndOption>-force_load ../../../lib/libmxnet.a</linkerEndOption>
+          </linkerEndOptions>
         </configuration>
 
         <executions>
diff --git a/scala-package/native/pom.xml b/scala-package/native/pom.xml
index d7f246c31348..99cae2e9e2ea 100644
--- a/scala-package/native/pom.xml
+++ b/scala-package/native/pom.xml
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@
   <profiles>
     <profile>
       <id>osx-x86_64</id>
+      <activation>
+        <os>
+          <family>mac</family>
+          <arch>x86_64</arch>
+        </os>
+      </activation>
       <properties>
         <platform>osx-x86_64</platform>
       </properties>
@@ -23,6 +29,11 @@
     </profile>
     <profile>
       <id>linux-x86_64</id>
+      <activation>
+        <os>
+          <family>linux</family>
+        </os>
+      </activation>
       <properties>
         <platform>linux-x86_64</platform>
       </properties>
diff --git a/tests/travis/run_test.sh b/tests/travis/run_test.sh
index add17a9b97b2..e8778b078859 100755
--- a/tests/travis/run_test.sh
+++ b/tests/travis/run_test.sh
@@ -119,18 +119,10 @@ if [ ${TASK} == "scala_test" ]; then
     mkdir -p ${CACHE_PREFIX}/data
     ln -s ${CACHE_PREFIX}/data ${PWD}/data
 
-    cd scala-package
     export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
 
-    if [ ${TRAVIS_OS_NAME} == "osx" ]; then
-        mvn clean package -P osx-x86_64
-        mvn integration-test -P osx-x86_64 || exit -1
-    fi
-    if [ ${TRAVIS_OS_NAME} == "linux" ]; then
-        # use g++-4.8 for linux
-        mvn clean package -P linux-x86_64 -D cxx=g++-4.8 -D ldflags.blas=-lblas
-        mvn integration-test -P linux-x86_64 -D cxx=g++-4.8 -D ldflags.blas=-lblas || exit -1
-    fi
+    make scalapkg || exit -1
+    make scalatest || exit -1
     
     exit 0
 fi