diff --git a/.travis/runblack.sh b/.travis/runblack.sh
index 3fadc98..2105cbb 100755
--- a/.travis/runblack.sh
+++ b/.travis/runblack.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@
 #
 #   RUN_BLACK_DISABLED
 #     if set to an arbitrary non-empty value, black will be not executed
+#
+#   RUN_BLACK_EXTRA_ARGS
+#     extra cmd line args to pass to black
 
 set -e
 
@@ -61,4 +64,5 @@ set -x
 python -m black \
   --include "${INCLUDE_ARG:-${RUN_BLACK_INCLUDE:-${DEFAULT_INCLUDE}}}" \
   --exclude "${EXCLUDE_ARG:-${RUN_BLACK_EXCLUDE:-${DEFAULT_EXCLUDE}}}" \
+  ${RUN_BLACK_EXTRA_ARGS:-} \
   "${OTHER_ARGS[@]}"
diff --git a/.travis/runflake8.sh b/.travis/runflake8.sh
index c6c366f..662ba81 100755
--- a/.travis/runflake8.sh
+++ b/.travis/runflake8.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 #
 #   RUN_FLAKE8_DISABLED
 #     if set to an arbitrary non-empty value, flake8 will be not executed
+#
+#   RUN_FLAKE8_EXTRA_ARGS
+#     any extra command line arguments to provide e.g. --ignore=some,errs
 
 set -e
 
@@ -25,4 +28,4 @@ if [[ "${RUN_FLAKE8_DISABLED}" ]]; then
 fi
 
 set -x
-python -m flake8 "$@"
+python -m flake8 ${RUN_FLAKE8_EXTRA_ARGS:-} "$@"
diff --git a/.travis/runpytest.sh b/.travis/runpytest.sh
index 30266dd..f9a2ce2 100755
--- a/.travis/runpytest.sh
+++ b/.travis/runpytest.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ set -e
 
 ME=$(basename $0)
 SCRIPTDIR=$(readlink -f $(dirname $0))
-TOPDIR=$(readlink -f ${SCRIPTDIR}/..)
 
 . ${SCRIPTDIR}/utils.sh
 
diff --git a/.travis/runsyspycmd.sh b/.travis/runsyspycmd.sh
index e08c893..8728ad1 100755
--- a/.travis/runsyspycmd.sh
+++ b/.travis/runsyspycmd.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ set -e
 
 ME=$(basename $0)
 SCRIPTDIR=$(readlink -f $(dirname $0))
-TOPDIR=$(readlink -f ${SCRIPTDIR}/..)
 
 . ${SCRIPTDIR}/utils.sh
 . ${SCRIPTDIR}/config.sh
diff --git a/.travis/utils.sh b/.travis/utils.sh
index 5b8607a..9e2c4e0 100644
--- a/.travis/utils.sh
+++ b/.travis/utils.sh
@@ -168,3 +168,13 @@ function lsr_venv_python_matches_system_python() {
 
   lsr_compare_pythons ${1:-python} -eq $syspython
 }
+
+# set TOPDIR
+ME=${ME:-$(basename $0)}
+SCRIPTDIR=${SCRIPTDIR:-$(readlink -f $(dirname $0))}
+TOPDIR=$(readlink -f ${SCRIPTDIR}/..)
+
+# Local Variables:
+# mode: Shell-script
+# sh-basic-offset: 2
+# End: