diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index bc4fe4c1..5c7137ea 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "chalk": "^2.4.1",
+    "delay": "^4.3.0",
     "execa": "^1.0.0",
     "got": "^9.6.0",
     "inquirer": "^6.3.1",
diff --git a/src/travis.ts b/src/travis.ts
index 784bd9e7..5edfe5dd 100644
--- a/src/travis.ts
+++ b/src/travis.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import delay from 'delay'
 import got, { GotInstance, GotJSONFn } from 'got'
 import * as yaml from 'js-yaml'
 import { exists } from 'mz/fs'
@@ -114,11 +115,22 @@ export async function initTravis({
     await travisClient.post(`user/${travisUser.id}/sync`)
     while ((await getCurrentTravisUser({ travisClient })).is_syncing) {
         console.log('Waiting for sync to finish...')
-        await new Promise<void>(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000))
+        await delay(1000)
     }
 
-    console.log(`Activating repository at https://travis-ci.org/sourcegraph/${repoName}`)
-    await travisClient.post(`/repo/sourcegraph%2F${repoName}/activate`)
+    // Retry activating while repository is not found (404)
+    while (true) {
+        try {
+            await delay(1000)
+            console.log(`Activating repository at https://travis-ci.org/sourcegraph/${repoName}`)
+            await travisClient.post(`/repo/sourcegraph%2F${repoName}/activate`)
+            break
+        } catch (err) {
+            if (err.status !== 404) {
+                throw err
+            }
+        }
+    }
 
     const envVars = (await travisClient.get(`/repo/sourcegraph%2F${repoName}/env_vars`)).body
     if (envVars.env_vars.some((envVar: any) => envVar.name === 'NPM_TOKEN')) {
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 63e685b2..d1518067 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -1563,6 +1563,11 @@ define-property@^2.0.2:
     is-descriptor "^1.0.2"
     isobject "^3.0.1"
 
+delay@^4.3.0:
+  version "4.3.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/delay/-/delay-4.3.0.tgz#efeebfb8f545579cb396b3a722443ec96d14c50e"
+  integrity sha512-Lwaf3zVFDMBop1yDuFZ19F9WyGcZcGacsbdlZtWjQmM50tOcMntm1njF/Nb/Vjij3KaSvCF+sEYGKrrjObu2NA==
+
 delayed-stream@~1.0.0:
   version "1.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/delayed-stream/-/delayed-stream-1.0.0.tgz#df3ae199acadfb7d440aaae0b29e2272b24ec619"