diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2c968234749f5..ae1b082626629 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY : develop build clean clean_pyc doc lint-diff black
+.PHONY : develop build clean clean_pyc doc lint-diff black test-scripts
 
 all: develop
 
@@ -38,3 +38,6 @@ check:
 		--included-file-extensions="py" \
 		--excluded-file-paths=pandas/tests,asv_bench/,doc/
 		pandas/
+
+test-scripts:
+	pytest scripts
diff --git a/scripts/__init__.py b/scripts/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e69de29bb2d1d
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_inconsistent_namespace_check.py b/scripts/tests/test_inconsistent_namespace_check.py
index 37e6d288d9341..10cb3042dfacb 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test_inconsistent_namespace_check.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_inconsistent_namespace_check.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from scripts.check_for_inconsistent_pandas_namespace import main
+from ..check_for_inconsistent_pandas_namespace import main
 
 BAD_FILE_0 = "cat_0 = Categorical()\ncat_1 = pd.Categorical()"
 BAD_FILE_1 = "cat_0 = pd.Categorical()\ncat_1 = Categorical()"
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py b/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py
index 74819db7b878c..7e4c68ddc183b 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 import textwrap
 
 import pytest
-import validate_docstrings
+
+from .. import validate_docstrings
 
 
 class BadDocstrings:
@@ -162,7 +163,9 @@ def test_bad_class(self, capsys):
             (
                 "BadDocstrings",
                 "indentation_is_not_a_multiple_of_four",
-                ("flake8 error: E111 indentation is not a multiple of four",),
+                # with flake8 3.9.0, the message ends with four spaces,
+                #  whereas in earlier versions, it ended with "four"
+                ("flake8 error: E111 indentation is not a multiple of     ",),
             ),
             (
                 "BadDocstrings",
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_validate_unwanted_patterns.py b/scripts/tests/test_validate_unwanted_patterns.py
index 947666a730ee9..ef93fd1d21981 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test_validate_unwanted_patterns.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_validate_unwanted_patterns.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import io
 
 import pytest
-import validate_unwanted_patterns
+
+from .. import validate_unwanted_patterns
 
 
 class TestBarePytestRaises: