diff --git a/packaging/resource_suite_s3_cache.py b/packaging/resource_suite_s3_cache.py
index b68087c9..f7d695dc 100644
--- a/packaging/resource_suite_s3_cache.py
+++ b/packaging/resource_suite_s3_cache.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import string
 import subprocess
 import urllib3
+import distro
 
 from .resource_suite_s3_nocache import Test_S3_NoCache_Base
 
@@ -57,11 +58,6 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super(Test_S3_Cache_Base, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def setUp(self):
-        # skip ssl tests on ub12
-        distro_str = ''.join(platform.linux_distribution()[:2]).replace(' ','').replace('.', '')
-        if self._testMethodName.startswith('test_ssl') and distro_str.lower().startswith('ubuntu12'):
-           self.skipTest("skipping ssl tests on ubuntu 12")
-
         # set up aws configuration
         self.read_aws_keys()
 
@@ -97,6 +93,7 @@ def setUp(self):
         if hasattr(self, 'static_bucket_name'):
             self.s3bucketname = self.static_bucket_name
         else:
+            distro_str = '{}-{}'.format(distro.id(), distro.version()).replace(' ', '').replace('.', '')
             self.s3bucketname = 'irods-ci-' + distro_str + datetime.datetime.utcnow().strftime('-%Y-%m-%d%H-%M-%S-%f-')
             self.s3bucketname += ''.join(random.choice(string.ascii_letters) for i in range(10))
             self.s3bucketname = self.s3bucketname[:63].lower() # bucket names can be no more than 63 characters long
diff --git a/packaging/resource_suite_s3_nocache.py b/packaging/resource_suite_s3_nocache.py
index 3c91b3a6..9f193fbb 100644
--- a/packaging/resource_suite_s3_nocache.py
+++ b/packaging/resource_suite_s3_nocache.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import io
 import psutil
 import subprocess
+import distro
 
 from .. import paths
 from ..configuration import IrodsConfig
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ def setUp(self):
         if hasattr(self, 'static_bucket_name'):
             self.s3bucketname = self.static_bucket_name
         else:
-            distro_str = ''.join(platform.linux_distribution()[:2]).replace(' ','').replace('.', '')
+            distro_str = '{}-{}'.format(distro.id(), distro.version()).replace(' ', '').replace('.', '')
             self.s3bucketname = 'irods-ci-' + distro_str + datetime.datetime.utcnow().strftime('-%Y-%m-%d%H-%M-%S-%f-')
             self.s3bucketname += ''.join(random.choice(string.ascii_letters) for i in range(10))
             self.s3bucketname = self.s3bucketname[:63].lower() # bucket names can be no more than 63 characters long