diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b51f102cbf..2c414e7c59 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -14,9 +14,7 @@ node_js:
 addons:
     chrome: stable
 install:
-    - npm install
     - ./scripts/travis/install-deps.sh
-
 matrix:
     include:
         - name: Linting Checks
@@ -25,12 +23,9 @@ matrix:
             - npm run lintwithexclusions
         - name: End-to-End Tests
           install:
-            - npm install
-            - ./scripts/travis/install-deps.sh
             - sudo apt-get install build-essential python2.7-dev libffi-dev python-pip python-setuptools sqlite3 libssl-dev python-virtualenv libjpeg-dev libxslt1-dev
           script:
-            - ./scripts/travis/test-riot.sh
+            - ./scripts/travis/end-to-end-tests.sh
         - name: Unit Tests
           script:
-            - npm run test
-
+            - ./scripts/travis/unit-tests.sh
diff --git a/scripts/travis/test-riot.sh b/scripts/travis/build.sh
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
similarity index 61%
rename from scripts/travis/test-riot.sh
rename to scripts/travis/build.sh
index d1c2804b2a..a353e38a06
--- a/scripts/travis/test-riot.sh
+++ b/scripts/travis/build.sh
@@ -24,18 +24,4 @@ rm -r node_modules/matrix-react-sdk
 ln -s "$REACT_SDK_DIR" node_modules/matrix-react-sdk
 
 npm run build
-npm run test
 popd
-
-if [ "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" = "develop" ]
-then
-    # run end to end tests
-    scripts/fetchdep.sh matrix-org matrix-react-end-to-end-tests master
-    pushd matrix-react-end-to-end-tests
-    ln -s $REACT_SDK_DIR/$RIOT_WEB_DIR riot/riot-web
-    # PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true ./install.sh
-    # CHROME_PATH=$(which google-chrome-stable) ./run.sh
-    ./install.sh
-    ./run.sh --travis
-    popd
-fi
diff --git a/scripts/travis/end-to-end-tests.sh b/scripts/travis/end-to-end-tests.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..285458bd4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/travis/end-to-end-tests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# script which is run by the travis build (after `npm run test`).
+#
+# clones riot-web develop and runs the tests against our version of react-sdk.
+
+set -ev
+
+RIOT_WEB_DIR=riot-web
+REACT_SDK_DIR=`pwd`
+
+if [ "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" = "develop" ]
+then
+    scripts/travis/build.sh
+    # run end to end tests
+    scripts/fetchdep.sh matrix-org matrix-react-end-to-end-tests master
+    pushd matrix-react-end-to-end-tests
+    ln -s $REACT_SDK_DIR/$RIOT_WEB_DIR riot/riot-web
+    # PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true ./install.sh
+    # CHROME_PATH=$(which google-chrome-stable) ./run.sh
+    ./install.sh
+    ./run.sh --travis
+    popd
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/travis/unit-tests.sh b/scripts/travis/unit-tests.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a8e0a63b31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/travis/unit-tests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# script which is run by the travis build (after `npm run test`).
+#
+# clones riot-web develop and runs the tests against our version of react-sdk.
+
+set -ev
+
+scripts/travis/build.sh
+npm run test