diff --git a/scripts/lib/common.sh b/scripts/lib/common.sh
index 19b85d5d..bbf3a25a 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/common.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib/common.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ DRY_RUN=false
 POSITION="none"
 SOURCES_TXT="$( dirname $DIR)/sources.txt"
 CABAL=${CABAL:-cabal}
+TRAVIS=${TRAVIS:-false}
 
 declare -a SOURCES
 readarray -t SOURCES < "$SOURCES_TXT"
@@ -29,3 +30,26 @@ versions_equal () {
         echo "versions of packages are not all the same!" && exit 1
     fi
 }
+
+travis_retry() {
+  # From
+  # https://github.com/travis-ci/travis-build/blob/18bd04e965b9bfaa49cd6bdcd8dcb1513b8d2fcd/lib/travis/build/templates/header.sh
+  local result=0
+  local count=1
+  while [ $count -le 3 ]; do
+    [ $result -ne 0 ] && {
+      echo -e "\n${ANSI_RED}The command \"$@\" failed. Retrying, $count of 3.${ANSI_RESET}\n" >&2
+    }
+    "$@"
+    result=$?
+    [ $result -eq 0 ] && break
+    count=$(($count + 1))
+    sleep 1
+  done
+
+  [ $count -gt 3 ] && {
+    echo -e "\n${ANSI_RED}The command \"$@\" failed 3 times.${ANSI_RESET}\n" >&2
+  }
+
+  return $result
+}
diff --git a/scripts/test-all.sh b/scripts/test-all.sh
index 5c78312c..a8a66e99 100755
--- a/scripts/test-all.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-all.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ prepare_sandbox () {
     for s in ${SOURCES[@]} ; do
         (cd "$s" && $CABAL sandbox init --sandbox=../.cabal-sandbox/ && $CABAL sandbox add-source .)
     done
-    $CABAL install --enable-tests ${SOURCES[@]}
+    if $TRAVIS ; then
+        travis_retry $CABAL install -v --enable-tests ${SOURCES[@]}
+    else
+        $CABAL install --enable-tests ${SOURCES[@]}
+    fi
 }
 
 test_each () {
diff --git a/servant/test/Servant/API/ContentTypesSpec.hs b/servant/test/Servant/API/ContentTypesSpec.hs
index 0f4a075a..407ccdb9 100644
--- a/servant/test/Servant/API/ContentTypesSpec.hs
+++ b/servant/test/Servant/API/ContentTypesSpec.hs
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ import           Data.Monoid
 #endif
 import           Control.Arrow
 import           Data.Aeson
-import           Data.Aeson.Parser          (jstring)
-import           Data.Attoparsec.ByteString (parseOnly)
 import           Data.Either
 import           Data.Function              (on)
 import           Data.Proxy
@@ -164,11 +162,14 @@ spec = describe "Servant.API.ContentTypes" $ do
 
     describe "eitherDecodeLenient" $ do
 
+    -- aeson >= 0.9 decodes top-level strings
+#if MIN_VERSION_aeson(0,9,0)
         it "parses top-level strings" $ do
             let toMaybe = either (const Nothing) Just
             -- The Left messages differ, so convert to Maybe
             property $ \x -> toMaybe (eitherDecodeLenient x)
-                `shouldBe` toMaybe (parseOnly jstring $ cs x)
+                `shouldBe` (decode x :: Maybe String)
+#endif
 
 
 data SomeData = SomeData { record1 :: String, record2 :: Int }