diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8272f4394..e5c8a8a78 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,4 +18,3 @@ hack/tls-setup/certs
 /vendor
 
 *.bak
-
diff --git a/Documentation/dl-build.md b/Documentation/dl-build.md
index 7b79951fa..698af26db 100644
--- a/Documentation/dl-build.md
+++ b/Documentation/dl-build.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ $ cd etcd
 $ ./build
 ```
 
-To build a vendored `etcd` from the `master` branch via `go get`:
+To build a modularized `etcd` from the `master` branch via `go get`:
 
 ```sh
 # GOPATH should be set
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 86cbc7fd5..0d2211817 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -23,11 +23,9 @@ clean:
 	rm -f ./*.coverprofile
 	rm -f ./*.log
 	rm -f ./bin/Dockerfile-release
-	rm -rf ./bin/*.etcd
+	rm -rf ./bin/etcd*
 	rm -rf ./default.etcd
 	rm -rf ./tests/e2e/default.etcd
-	rm -rf ./gopath
-	rm -rf ./gopath.proto
 	rm -rf ./release
 	rm -f ./snapshot/localhost:*
 	rm -f ./tools/etcd-dump-metrics/localhost:*
diff --git a/client/README.md b/client/README.md
index 5d8ecad11..5ecb67820 100644
--- a/client/README.md
+++ b/client/README.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ etcd/client is the Go client library for etcd.
 
 [![GoDoc](https://godoc.org/go.etcd.io/etcd/client?status.png)](https://godoc.org/go.etcd.io/etcd/client)
 
-For full compatibility, it is recommended to vendor builds using etcd's vendored packages, using tools like `golang/dep`, as in [vendor directories](https://golang.org/cmd/go/#hdr-Vendor_Directories).
+For full compatibility, it is recommended to install released versions of clients using go modules.
 
 ## Install
 
diff --git a/clientv3/README.md b/clientv3/README.md
index 6c6fe7c67..d35849221 100644
--- a/clientv3/README.md
+++ b/clientv3/README.md
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ if err != nil {
 // use the response
 ```
 
-For full compatibility, it is recommended to vendor builds using etcd's vendored packages, using tools like `golang/dep`, as in [vendor directories](https://golang.org/cmd/go/#hdr-Vendor_Directories).
+For full compatibility, it is recommended to install released versions of clients using go modules.
 
 ## Error Handling
 
diff --git a/scripts/install_tool.sh b/scripts/install_tool.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..05a788825
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/install_tool.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Usage ./install_tool.sh {go_module}
+#
+# Install given tool and makes it available on $PATH (assuming standard config),
+# without modification to vendor or go.mod file.
+#
+# When https://github.com/golang/go/issues/40276 is implemented, usage
+# of this script should get replaced by pure: 
+# 
+# go install {go_module}@latest
+# 
+set -e
+
+>&2 echo "installing: ${1}"
+(
+  cd "$(mktemp -d)"
+  GO111MODULE=on go get "$1"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/updatebom.sh b/scripts/updatebom.sh
index 210e0e960..d479abb86 100755
--- a/scripts/updatebom.sh
+++ b/scripts/updatebom.sh
@@ -7,10 +7,7 @@ if ! [[ "$0" =~ scripts/updatebom.sh ]]; then
 	exit 255
 fi
 
-export GO111MODULE=off # Don't add BOM tool to etcd go.mod
-echo "installing 'bill-of-materials.json'"
-go get -v -u github.com/coreos/license-bill-of-materials
-export GO111MODULE=on
+./scripts/install_tool.sh github.com/coreos/license-bill-of-materials
 
 echo "generating bill-of-materials.json"
 license-bill-of-materials \
diff --git a/scripts/updatedep.sh b/scripts/updatedep.sh
index 46ddac980..75adc050f 100755
--- a/scripts/updatedep.sh
+++ b/scripts/updatedep.sh
@@ -13,10 +13,16 @@ if [ -d "gopath.proto" ]; then
   exit 255
 fi
 
-if [[ $(go version) != "go version go1.14"* ]]; then
+if [[ $(go version) < "go version go1.14" ]]; then
   echo "expect Go 1.14+, got:" "$(go version)"
   exit 255
 fi
 
 GO111MODULE=on go mod tidy -v
 GO111MODULE=on go mod vendor -v
+
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+echo -e "\n${RED} WARNING: In etcd >=3.5 we use go modules rather than vendoring" 
+echo -e "${RED}          Please refactor your logic to depend on modules directly.${NC}"
+
diff --git a/test b/test
index 247aa389b..82c17118c 100755
--- a/test
+++ b/test
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ function govet_shadow_pass {
 	# shellcheck disable=SC2206
 	fmtpkgs=($fmtpkgs)
 	# Golang 1.12 onwards the experimental -shadow option is no longer available with go vet
-	go get -v golang.org/x/tools/go/analysis/passes/shadow/cmd/shadow
+	./scripts/install_tool.sh golang.org/x/tools/go/analysis/passes/shadow/cmd/shadow
 	export PATH=${GOPATH}/bin:${PATH}
 	shadow_tool=$(which shadow)
 	vetRes=$(go vet -all -vettool="${shadow_tool}" "${TEST[@]}")