diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index d2ddc48a..953e4bfd 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ script:
       $PYTHON ./bin/run_tests.py
     else
       # linux test requires root to clean up the wheelhouse (docker runs as root)
-      sudo $PYTHON -m ensurepip
+      sudo apt-get -qq update
+      sudo apt-get install -y python3-pip
       sudo $PYTHON -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
       sudo $PYTHON ./bin/run_tests.py
     fi