diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 817ba5b..4c4d9d5 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ services:
 python:
   - "3.6"
   - "3.7-dev"
+before_install:
+  # travis has old versions pre-installed, so upgrade them first:
+  - pip list --outdated | cut -d ' ' -f1 | xargs -n1 pip install -U
 install:
   - pip install -r requirements.txt
   - pip install pytest-cov coveralls codecov