diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d50457f1f3..6f11a8aefc 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ deps-test:
 # (Re)install the tool
 install:
 	$(PIP) install -U pip wheel setuptools fastentrypoints
+	@# speedup for end-of-life builds
+	if $(PYTHON) -V | fgrep -e 3.5 -e 3.6; then $(PIP) install --prefer-binary -U opencv-python-headless numpy; fi
 	for mod in $(BUILD_ORDER);do (cd $$mod ; $(PIP_INSTALL) .);done
 	@# workaround for shapely#1598
 	$(PIP) install --no-binary shapely --force-reinstall shapely