diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index f0546cf8..6067e2d5 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ before_install:
 
 install:
  - travis_retry cabal update
+ - cabal install --only-dependencies # needed for older GHCs for transformers
 
 script:
  - cabal configure -v2