diff --git a/ci/cruise_config.rb b/ci/cruise_config.rb
index 439a93d69b..9c7fa98a70 100644
--- a/ci/cruise_config.rb
+++ b/ci/cruise_config.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 Project.configure do |project|
   # Send email notifications about broken and fixed builds to core mailing list
-  if Socket.gethostname =~ /ci.rubyonrails.org/
+  if Socket.gethostname =~ /ci.rubyonrails.org/ && ENV['ENABLE_RAILS_CI_EMAILS'] == 'true'
     project.email_notifier.emails = ['rubyonrails-core@googlegroups.com']
   end
 
-  project.build_command = 'sudo update_rubygems && ruby ci/ci_build.rb'
-  project.email_notifier.from = 'thewoolleyman+railsci@gmail.com'
+  project.build_command = 'sudo gem update --system && ruby ci/ci_build.rb'
+  project.email_notifier.from = 'thewoolleyman@gmail.com'
 end