diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_tests_linux.yaml b/.github/workflows/build_tests_linux.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..15aaa19f06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_tests_linux.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+name: Build Tests Linux
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+    - master
+    - develop
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+    - master
+    - develop
+    paths-ignore:
+      # Don't run if we only modified packages in the built-in repository
+      - 'var/spack/repos/builtin/**'
+      - '!var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lz4/**'
+      - '!var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/mpich/**'
+      - '!var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/tut/**'
+      - '!var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-setuptools/**'
+      - '!var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openjpeg/**'
+      - '!var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/r-rcpp/**'
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      max-parallel: 4
+      matrix:
+        package: [lz4, mpich, tut, py-setuptools, openjpeg, r-rcpp]
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v1
+    - name: Cache ccache's store
+      uses: actions/cache@v1
+      with:
+        path: ~/.ccache
+        key: ccache-build-${{ matrix.package }}
+        restore-keys: |
+          ccache-build-${{ matrix.package }}
+    - name: Setup Python
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v1
+      with:
+        python-version: 3.8
+    - name: Install System Packages
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get -yqq install ccache gfortran perl perl-base r-base r-base-core r-base-dev findutils openssl libssl-dev libpciaccess-dev
+        R --version
+        perl --version
+    - name: Copy Configuration
+      run: |
+        ccache -M 300M && ccache -z
+        # Set up external deps for build tests, b/c they take too long to compile
+        cp share/spack/qa/configuration/*.yaml etc/spack/
+    - name: Run the build test
+      run: |
+        . share/spack/setup-env.sh
+        SPEC=${{ matrix.package }} share/spack/qa/run-build-tests
+        ccache -s
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index f276c3ba34..86b9f4d3db 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -61,52 +61,10 @@ jobs:
       language: generic
       env: [ TEST_SUITE=unit, PYTHON_VERSION=2.7, COVERAGE=true ]
       if: type != pull_request
-# mpich (AutotoolsPackage)
-    - stage: 'build tests'
-      python: '2.7'
-      os: linux
-      language: python
-      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=mpich' ]
-# astyle (MakefilePackage)
-    - python: '3.8'
-      os: linux
-      language: python
-      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=astyle' ]
-# tut (WafPackage)
-    - python: '3.8'
-      os: linux
-      language: python
-      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=tut' ]
-# py-setuptools (PythonPackage)
-    - python: '3.8'
-      os: linux
-      language: python
-      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=py-setuptools' ]
-# perl-dbi (PerlPackage)
-#    - python: '3.8'
-#      os: linux
-#      language: python
-#      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=perl-dbi' ]
-# openjpeg (CMakePackage + external cmake)
-    - python: '3.8'
-      os: linux
-      language: python
-      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=openjpeg' ]
-# r-rcpp (RPackage + external R)
-    - python: '3.8'
-      os: linux
-      language: python
-      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=r-rcpp' ]
-# mpich (AutotoolsPackage)
-    - python: '3.8'
-      os: linux
-      language: python
-      env: [ TEST_SUITE=build, 'SPEC=mpich' ]
 
 stages:
   - 'style checks'
   - 'unit tests + documentation'
-  - 'build tests'
 
 
 #=============================================================================
@@ -182,11 +140,6 @@ before_script:
   # Need this to be able to compute the list of changed files
   - git fetch origin ${TRAVIS_BRANCH}:${TRAVIS_BRANCH}
 
-  # Set up external deps for build tests, b/c they take too long to compile
-  - if [[ "$TEST_SUITE" == "build" ]]; then
-        cp share/spack/qa/configuration/*.yaml etc/spack/;
-    fi
-
 #=============================================================================
 # Building
 #=============================================================================
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f0d5dfd8f..51155f9cb5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # <img src="https://cdn.rawgit.com/spack/spack/develop/share/spack/logo/spack-logo.svg" width="64" valign="middle" alt="Spack"/> Spack
 
 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/spack/spack.svg?branch=develop)](https://travis-ci.org/spack/spack)
+[![](https://github.com/spack/spack/workflows/Build%20Tests%20Linux/badge.svg)](https://github.com/spack/spack/actions)
 [![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/spack/spack/branch/develop/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/spack/spack)
 [![Read the Docs](https://readthedocs.org/projects/spack/badge/?version=latest)](https://spack.readthedocs.io)
 [![Slack](https://spackpm.herokuapp.com/badge.svg)](https://spackpm.herokuapp.com)
diff --git a/share/spack/qa/configuration/packages.yaml b/share/spack/qa/configuration/packages.yaml
index fad3489d3b..076095a7ca 100644
--- a/share/spack/qa/configuration/packages.yaml
+++ b/share/spack/qa/configuration/packages.yaml
@@ -2,12 +2,25 @@ packages:
   cmake:
     buildable: False
     paths:
-      cmake@2.8.12.2: /usr
+      cmake@3.12.4: /usr
   r:
     buildable: False
     paths:
-      r@3.0.2: /usr
+      r@3.4.4: /usr
   perl:
     buildable: False
     paths:
-      perl@5.18.2: /usr
+      perl@5.26.1: /usr
+  findutils:
+    buildable: False
+    paths:
+      findutils@4.6.0: /usr
+  openssl:
+    buildable: False
+    paths:
+      openssl@1.1.1: /usr
+  libpciaccess:
+    buildable: False
+    paths:
+      libpciaccess@0.13.5: /usr
+