diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 74e598aa..bc55b556 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ addons:
 cache:
   directories:
   - node_modules
+before_install: if [[ `npm -v` != 3* ]]; then npm i -g npm@3; fi
 before_script:
   - npm run e2e-server > /dev/null & # kill e2e server
   - sleep 3 # give server time to start