diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 9235e7f973..b033c1146b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -12,11 +12,6 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
         python-version: [ '3.5', '3.6', '3.7', '3.8' ]
-        exclude:
-          - os: windows-latest
-            python-version: '3.5'
-          - os: windows-latest
-            python-version: '3.6'
     steps:
     - name: Checkout
       uses: actions/checkout@v1
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 752c67d701..b442958b7b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,13 +14,7 @@ To install the latest release locally, make sure you have
 
     $ pip install jupyter_server
 
-Jupyter Server currently supports the following Python versions:
-
-Platform | Python
---- | ---
-Linux | >=3.5
-OSX | >=3.5
-Windows | >=3.7
+Jupyter Server currently supports Python>=3.5 on Linux, OSX and Windows.
 
 ### Versioning and Branches
 
diff --git a/jupyter_server/__init__.py b/jupyter_server/__init__.py
index 9611848e60..9a2bce1ffc 100644
--- a/jupyter_server/__init__.py
+++ b/jupyter_server/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 """The Jupyter Server"""
 
 import os
+import sys
+import subprocess
 
 DEFAULT_STATIC_FILES_PATH = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "static")
 DEFAULT_TEMPLATE_PATH_LIST = [
@@ -11,3 +13,16 @@
 del os
 
 from ._version import version_info, __version__
+
+
+def _cleanup():
+    pass
+
+
+# patch subprocess on Windows for python<3.7
+# see https://bugs.python.org/issue37380
+# the fix for python3.7: https://github.com/python/cpython/pull/15706/files
+if sys.platform == 'win32':
+    if sys.version_info < (3, 7):
+        subprocess._cleanup = _cleanup
+        subprocess._active = None
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 8f478da91f..d4ad5abeb4 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -19,16 +19,10 @@
 name = "jupyter_server"
 
 # Minimal Python version sanity check
-if sys.platform == 'win32':
-    if sys.version_info < (3,7):
-        error = "ERROR: %s requires Python version 3.7 or above." % name
-        print(error, file=sys.stderr)
-        sys.exit(1)
-else:
-    if sys.version_info < (3,5):
-        error = "ERROR: %s requires Python version 3.5 or above." % name
-        print(error, file=sys.stderr)
-        sys.exit(1)
+if sys.version_info < (3,5):
+    error = "ERROR: %s requires Python version 3.5 or above." % name
+    print(error, file=sys.stderr)
+    sys.exit(1)
 
 # At least we're on the python version we need, move on.