diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index 850d5b413..986a0e22d 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -1,17 +1,16 @@
 environment:
+  PSVersion: 5
+  BuildConfiguration: Release
   matrix:
   - APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: Visual Studio 2017
     PowerShellEdition: PowerShellCore
-    BuildConfiguration: Release
   - APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: Visual Studio 2017
     PowerShellEdition: WindowsPowerShell
-    BuildConfiguration: Release
   - APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: WMF 4
     PowerShellEdition: WindowsPowerShell
-    BuildConfiguration: PSv4Release
+    PSVersion: 4
   - APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: Ubuntu
     PowerShellEdition: PowerShellCore
-    BuildConfiguration: Release
 
 # cache Nuget packages and dotnet CLI cache
 cache:
@@ -33,29 +32,29 @@ install:
 
 build_script:
   - ps:   |
-            if ($env:PowerShellEdition -eq 'WindowsPowerShell') {
-                if ($env:BuildConfiguration -eq 'PSv4Release') {
-                  # On WMF$: Also build for v3 to check it builds at least since we do not have a WMF3 image
-                  Invoke-AppveyorBuild -CheckoutPath $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER -BuildConfiguration PSv3Release -BuildType 'FullCLR'
-                }
-                Invoke-AppveyorBuild -CheckoutPath $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER -BuildConfiguration $env:BuildConfiguration -BuildType 'FullCLR'
-            }
+      Set-Location $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER
+      ./build.ps1 -Documentation
+      if ( $env:PSVersion -eq "4" ) { # On WMF4: Also build for v3 to check it builds at least since we do not have a WMF3 image
+         ./build.ps1 -Configuration "$env:BuildConfiguration" -PSVersion 3 -Framework full
+      }
+      ./build.ps1 -Configuration "$env:BuildConfiguration" -PSVersion "$env:PSVersion" -Framework full
   - pwsh: |
-            if ($env:PowerShellEdition -eq 'PowerShellCore') {
-                Import-Module .\tools\appveyor.psm1 # Appveyor does not persist pwsh sessions like it does for ps
-                Invoke-AppveyorBuild -CheckoutPath $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER -BuildConfiguration $env:BuildConfiguration -BuildType 'NetStandard'
-            }
+      if ($env:PowerShellEdition -eq 'PowerShellCore') {
+          Set-Location $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER
+          ./build.ps1 -Documentation
+          ./build.ps1 -Configuration "$env:BuildConfiguration" -PSVersion 5 -Framework core
+      }
 
 test_script:
   - ps:   |
-            if ($env:PowerShellEdition -eq 'WindowsPowerShell') {
-                Invoke-AppveyorTest -CheckoutPath $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER
-            }
+      if ($env:PowerShellEdition -eq 'WindowsPowerShell') {
+          Invoke-AppveyorTest -CheckoutPath $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER
+      }
   - pwsh: |
-            if ($env:PowerShellEdition -eq 'PowerShellCore') {
-                Import-Module .\tools\appveyor.psm1 # Appveyor does not persist pwsh sessions like it does for ps
-                Invoke-AppveyorTest -CheckoutPath $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER
-            }
+      if ($env:PowerShellEdition -eq 'PowerShellCore') {
+          Import-Module .\tools\appveyor.psm1 # Appveyor does not persist pwsh sessions like it does for ps
+          Invoke-AppveyorTest -CheckoutPath $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER
+      }
 
 # Upload the project along with test results as a zip archive
 on_finish:
diff --git a/build.psm1 b/build.psm1
index 547350ffc..61b63bee5 100644
--- a/build.psm1
+++ b/build.psm1
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ function Remove-Build
     }
 }
 
-
 # Build documentation using platyPS
 function Build-Documentation
 {
@@ -95,8 +94,9 @@ function Build-Documentation
     $markdownDocsPath = Join-Path $docsPath markdown
     $outputDocsPath = Join-Path $destinationDir en-US
     $requiredVersionOfplatyPS = 0.9
-    $modInfo = new-object Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ModuleSpecification -ArgumentList @{ ModuleName = "platyps"; ModuleVersion = $requiredVersionOfplatyPS}
-    if ( $null -eq (Get-Module -ListAvailable -FullyQualifiedName $modInfo))
+    #$modInfo = new-object Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ModuleSpecification -ArgumentList @{ ModuleName = "platyps"; ModuleVersion = $requiredVersionOfplatyPS}
+    #if ( $null -eq (Get-Module -ListAvailable -FullyQualifiedName $modInfo))
+    if ( $null -eq (Get-Module -ListAvailable platyPS))
     {
         throw "Cannot find required minimum version $requiredVersionOfplatyPS of platyPS. Install via 'Install-Module platyPS'"
     }
diff --git a/tools/appveyor.psm1 b/tools/appveyor.psm1
index 130488f8d..a65c95b19 100644
--- a/tools/appveyor.psm1
+++ b/tools/appveyor.psm1
@@ -5,31 +5,36 @@ $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
 
 # Implements the AppVeyor 'install' step and installs the required versions of Pester, platyPS and the .Net Core SDK if needed.
 function Invoke-AppVeyorInstall {
-    $requiredPesterVersion = '4.3.1'
+    $requiredPesterVersion = '4.4.1'
     $pester = Get-Module Pester -ListAvailable | Where-Object { $_.Version -eq $requiredPesterVersion }
     if ($null -eq $pester) {
         if ($null -eq (Get-Module -ListAvailable PowershellGet)) {
             # WMF 4 image build
+            Write-Verbose -Verbose "Installing Pester via nuget"
             nuget install Pester -Version $requiredPesterVersion -source https://www.powershellgallery.com/api/v2 -outputDirectory "$env:ProgramFiles\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\." -ExcludeVersion
         }
         else {
             # Visual Studio 2017 build (has already Pester v3, therefore a different installation mechanism is needed to make it also use the new version 4)
+            Write-Verbose -Verbose "Installing Pester via Install-Module"
             Install-Module -Name Pester -Force -SkipPublisherCheck -Scope CurrentUser
         }
     }
 
     if ($null -eq (Get-Module -ListAvailable PowershellGet)) {
         # WMF 4 image build
+        Write-Verbose -Verbose "Installing platyPS via nuget"
         nuget install platyPS -Version 0.9.0 -source https://www.powershellgallery.com/api/v2 -outputDirectory "$Env:ProgramFiles\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\." -ExcludeVersion
     }
     else {
+        Write-Verbose -Verbose "Installing platyPS via Install-Module"
         Install-Module -Name platyPS -Force -Scope CurrentUser -RequiredVersion '0.9.0'
     }
 
     # the legacy WMF4 image only has the old preview SDKs of dotnet
     $globalDotJson = Get-Content (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot '..\global.json') -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json
     $dotNetCoreSDKVersion = $globalDotJson.sdk.version
-    if (-not ((dotnet --version).StartsWith($dotNetCoreSDKVersion))) {
+    # don't try to run this script on linux - we have to do the negative check because IsLinux will be defined in core, but not windows
+    if (-not ((dotnet --version).StartsWith($dotNetCoreSDKVersion)) -and ! $IsLinux ) {
         [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12 # https://github.com/dotnet/announcements/issues/77
         Invoke-WebRequest 'https://dot.net/v1/dotnet-install.ps1' -OutFile dotnet-install.ps1
         .\dotnet-install.ps1 -Version $dotNetCoreSDKVersion
@@ -37,37 +42,6 @@ function Invoke-AppVeyorInstall {
     }
 }
 
-# Implements the AppVeyor 'build_script' step
-function Invoke-AppVeyorBuild {
-    Param(
-        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
-        [ValidateSet('FullCLR', 'NetStandard')]
-        $BuildType,
-
-        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
-        [ValidateSet('Release', 'PSv3Release', 'PSv4Release')]
-        $BuildConfiguration,
-
-        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
-        [ValidateScript( {Test-Path $_})]
-        $CheckoutPath
-    )
-
-    $PSVersionTable
-    Write-Verbose "Pester version: $((Get-Command Invoke-Pester).Version)" -Verbose
-    Write-Verbose ".NET SDK version: $(dotnet --version)" -Verbose
-    Push-Location $CheckoutPath
-    [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("DOTNET_SKIP_FIRST_TIME_EXPERIENCE", 1) # avoid unneccessary initialization in CI
-    if ($BuildType -eq 'FullCLR') {
-        .\buildCoreClr.ps1 -Framework net451 -Configuration $BuildConfiguration -Build
-    }
-    elseif ($BuildType -eq 'NetStandard') {
-        .\buildCoreClr.ps1 -Framework netstandard2.0 -Configuration Release -Build
-    }
-    .\build.ps1 -BuildDocs
-    Pop-Location
-}
-
 # Implements AppVeyor 'test_script' step
 function Invoke-AppveyorTest {
     Param(
@@ -97,4 +71,4 @@ function Invoke-AppveyorFinish {
         # You can add other artifacts here
         (Get-ChildItem $zipFile)
     ) | ForEach-Object { Push-AppveyorArtifact $_.FullName }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}