diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index eb12059a..e3f30a2b 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 language: c
 sudo: false
 
+dist: xenial
+
 git:
   submodules: false  # whether to recursively clone submodules