diff --git a/.travis/setup-kubernetes.sh b/.travis/setup-kubernetes.sh
index 925dca0d59d..e75edb2fcd1 100755
--- a/.travis/setup-kubernetes.sh
+++ b/.travis/setup-kubernetes.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,30 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-rm ~/.kube/config
+rm -rf ~/.kube
 
 function install_kubectl {
     curl -Lo kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/$(curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl && chmod +x kubectl
     sudo cp kubectl /usr/bin
 }
 
+function wait_for_minikube {
+    i="0"
+
+    while [ $i -lt 60 ]
+    do
+        kubectl cluster-info &> /dev/null
+        if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+        then
+            sleep 1
+        else
+            return 0
+        fi
+        i=$[$i+1]
+    done
+
+    return 1
+}
+
 if [ "$TEST_CLUSTER" = "minikube" ]; then
     install_kubectl
     curl -Lo minikube https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64 && chmod +x minikube
@@ -22,8 +40,22 @@ if [ "$TEST_CLUSTER" = "minikube" ]; then
     docker run -d -p 5000:5000 registry
 
     export KUBECONFIG=$HOME/.kube/config
-    sudo -E minikube start --vm-driver=none --insecure-registry localhost:5000
+    sudo -E minikube start --vm-driver=none --insecure-registry localhost:5000 --extra-config=apiserver.Authorization.Mode=RBAC
     sudo -E minikube addons enable default-storageclass
+
+    wait_for_minikube
+
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+    then
+        echo "Minikube failed to start"
+        exit 1
+    else
+        # The role needs to be added because Minikube is not fully prepared for RBAC.
+        # Without adding the cluster-admin rights to the default service account in kube-system
+        # some components would be crashing (such as KubeDNS). This should have no impact on
+        # RBAC for Strimzi during the system tests.
+        kubectl create clusterrolebinding add-on-cluster-admin --clusterrole=cluster-admin --serviceaccount=kube-system:default
+    fi
 elif [ "$TEST_CLUSTER" = "minishift" ]; then
     #install_kubectl
     MS_VERSION=1.13.1