diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 32ad1008..399cfa3d 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ python:
     - 3.6-dev
 sudo: false
 install:
-    - pip install .
+    - pip install --upgrade pip && pip install .
     - pip install traitlets[test] pytest-cov codecov pytest-warnings --upgrade
 script:
     - py.test --cov traitlets -v traitlets