diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 56a1993bf..f96dce308 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -283,7 +283,118 @@ matrix:
 
     # python 3 osx
     
-    # - name: "klayout python3 osx10.13"
+    # MacOS 10.15, Python 3.9
+    - name: "cp39-cp39m-macosx_10_15_x86_64.whl"
+      os: osx
+      osx_image: xcode12  # macOS 10.15
+      cache:
+        directories:
+        - ccache
+      addons:
+        homebrew:
+          packages:
+            - python@3.9
+            - ccache
+          update: true
+      env:
+        - MATRIX_EVAL="shopt -s expand_aliases; alias python='python3'; alias pip='pip3';"
+        - ARCHFLAGS="-std=c++11"
+        - PIP_UPDATE="1"
+        - PYTHON_BUILD=true
+
+    # MacOS 10.15, Python 3.8
+    - name: "cp38-cp38m-macosx_10_15_x86_64.whl"
+      os: osx
+      osx_image: xcode12  # macOS 10.15
+      cache:
+        directories:
+        - ccache
+      addons:
+        homebrew:
+          packages:
+            - python@3.8
+            - ccache
+          update: true
+      env:
+        - MATRIX_EVAL="shopt -s expand_aliases; alias python='python3'; alias pip='pip3';"
+        - ARCHFLAGS="-std=c++11"
+        - PIP_UPDATE="1"
+        - PYTHON_BUILD=true
+
+    # MacOS 10.15, Python 3.7
+    - name: "cp37-cp37m-macosx_10_15_x86_64.whl"
+      os: osx
+      osx_image: xcode12  # macOS 10.15
+      cache:
+        directories:
+        - ccache
+      addons:
+        homebrew:
+          packages:
+            - python@3.7
+            - ccache
+          update: true
+      env:
+        - MATRIX_EVAL="shopt -s expand_aliases; alias python='python3'; alias pip='pip3';"
+        - ARCHFLAGS="-std=c++11"
+        - PIP_UPDATE="1"
+        - PYTHON_BUILD=true
+
+    # MacOS 10.14, Python 3.9
+    - name: "cp39-cp39m-macosx_10_14_x86_64.whl"
+      os: osx
+      osx_image: xcode11  # macOS 10.14
+      cache:
+        directories:
+        - ccache
+      addons:
+        homebrew:
+          packages:
+            - python@3.9
+            - ccache
+          update: true
+      env:
+        - ARCHFLAGS="-std=c++11"
+        - PIP_UPDATE="1"
+        - PYTHON_BUILD=true
+
+    # MacOS 10.14, Python 3.8
+    - name: "cp38-cp38m-macosx_10_14_x86_64.whl"
+      os: osx
+      osx_image: xcode11  # macOS 10.14
+      cache:
+        directories:
+        - ccache
+      addons:
+        homebrew:
+          packages:
+            - python@3.8
+            - ccache
+          update: true
+      env:
+        - ARCHFLAGS="-std=c++11"
+        - PIP_UPDATE="1"
+        - PYTHON_BUILD=true
+
+    # MacOS 10.14, Python 3.7
+    - name: "cp37-cp37m-macosx_10_14_x86_64.whl"
+      os: osx
+      osx_image: xcode11  # macOS 10.14
+      cache:
+        directories:
+        - ccache
+      addons:
+        homebrew:
+          packages:
+            - python@3.7
+            - ccache
+          update: true
+      env:
+        - ARCHFLAGS="-std=c++11"
+        - PIP_UPDATE="1"
+        - PYTHON_BUILD=true
+
+    # MacOS 10.13, Python 3.7
     - name: "cp37-cp37m-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl"
       os: osx
       osx_image: xcode9.4  # macOS 10.13
@@ -302,7 +413,7 @@ matrix:
         - PIP_UPDATE="1"
         - PYTHON_BUILD=true
 
-    # - name: "klayout python3.6.6 osx10.13"
+    # MacOS 10.13, Python 3.6
     - name: "cp36-cp36m-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl"
       os: osx
       osx_image: xcode9.4  # macOS 10.13
@@ -320,7 +431,7 @@ matrix:
         - PIP_UPDATE="1"
         - PYTHON_BUILD=true
 
-    # - name: "klayout python3.5.6 osx10.13"
+    # MacOS 10.13, Python 3.5
     - name: "cp35-cp35m-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl"
       os: osx
       osx_image: xcode9.4  # macOS 10.13
@@ -375,6 +486,8 @@ matrix:
         - PIP_UPDATE="1"
         - PYTHON_BUILD=true
 
+  # KLayout builds not enabled for now
+  exclude:
     # KLayout builds for mac
     # Python 3
     - name: "KLayout macOS 10.13 with py3.7"
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index 55921a370..33e89610e 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ jobs:
       cp38-cp38-win_amd64.whl:
         python.version: '3.8'
         python.architecture: 'x64'
+      cp39-cp39-win_amd64.whl:
+        python.version: '3.9'
+        python.architecture: 'x64'
       cp35-cp35m-win32.whl:
         python.version: '3.5'
         python.architecture: 'x86'
@@ -40,6 +43,9 @@ jobs:
       cp38-cp38-win32.whl:
         python.version: '3.8'
         python.architecture: 'x86'
+      cp39-cp39-win32.whl:
+        python.version: '3.9'
+        python.architecture: 'x86'
     maxParallel: 6
 
   steps:
@@ -123,6 +129,11 @@ jobs:
     vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016' # other options: 'macOS-10.13', 'ubuntu-16.04'
   steps:
     - checkout: none #skip checking out the default repository resource
+    - task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@0
+      displayName: 'Download Build Artifacts wheel-3.9.x64'
+      inputs:
+        artifactName: 'wheel-3.9.x64'
+        downloadPath: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)'
     - task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@0
       displayName: 'Download Build Artifacts wheel-3.8.x64'
       inputs:
@@ -143,6 +154,11 @@ jobs:
       inputs:
         artifactName: 'wheel-3.5.x64'
         downloadPath: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)'
+    - task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@0
+      displayName: 'Download Build Artifacts wheel-3.9.x86'
+      inputs:
+        artifactName: 'wheel-3.9.x86'
+        downloadPath: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)'
     - task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@0
       displayName: 'Download Build Artifacts wheel-3.8.x86'
       inputs:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index dbef7ca6e..02fb3b637 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ from setuptools.extension import Extension, Library
 import glob
 import os
 import re
+import sys
 import platform
 from distutils.errors import CompileError
 import distutils.command.build_ext
@@ -102,12 +103,20 @@ def parallelCCompile(self, sources, output_dir=None, macros=None, include_dirs=N
 
 
 # only if python version > 2.6, somehow the travis compiler hangs in 2.6
-import sys
-if sys.version_info[0] * 10 + sys.version_info[1] > 26:
+if sys.version_info[0] * 100 + sys.version_info[1] > 206:
     import distutils.ccompiler
     distutils.ccompiler.CCompiler.compile = parallelCCompile
 
 
+# put a path in quotes if required
+def quote_path(path):
+    # looks like disutils don't need path quoting in version >= 3.9:
+    if " " in path and sys.version_info[0] * 100 + sys.version_info[1] < 309:
+        return "\"" + path + "\""
+    else:
+        return path
+
+
 # TODO: delete (Obsolete)
 # patch get_ext_filename
 from distutils.command.build_ext import build_ext
@@ -252,10 +261,10 @@ class Config(object):
         if platform.system() == "Windows":
             bits = os.getenv("KLAYOUT_BITS")
             if bits:
-                return ["\"-I" + os.path.join(bits, "zlib", "include") + "\"",
-                        "\"-I" + os.path.join(bits, "ptw", "include") + "\"",
-                        "\"-I" + os.path.join(bits, "expat", "include") + "\"",
-                        "\"-I" + os.path.join(bits, "curl", "include") + "\""]
+                return [quote_path("-I" + os.path.join(bits, "zlib", "include")),
+                        quote_path("-I" + os.path.join(bits, "ptw", "include")),
+                        quote_path("-I" + os.path.join(bits, "expat", "include")),
+                        quote_path("-I" + os.path.join(bits, "curl", "include"))]
             else:
                 return []
         elif platform.system() == "Darwin":
@@ -285,10 +294,10 @@ class Config(object):
             args = ["/DLL"]
             bits = os.getenv("KLAYOUT_BITS")
             if bits:
-                args += ["\"/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "zlib", "libraries") + "\"",
-                         "\"/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "ptw", "libraries") + "\"",
-                         "\"/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "expat", "libraries") + "\"",
-                         "\"/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "curl", "libraries") + "\""]
+                args += [quote_path("/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "zlib", "libraries")),
+                         quote_path("/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "ptw", "libraries")),
+                         quote_path("/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "expat", "libraries")),
+                         quote_path("/LIBPATH:" + os.path.join(bits, "curl", "libraries"))]
             return args
         elif platform.system() == "Darwin":
             # For the dependency modules, make sure we produce a dylib.