diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 2ef7997d25..7b18d33e9d 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -65,8 +65,7 @@ env:
   global:
     - SRC_DIR="."
     - BUILD_DIR="."
-    - TEST_CMD="make check"
-    - MAKEFLAGS="-j3"
+    - TEST_CMD="make check -j3"
 
 
 git:
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@ before_script:
   - mkdir -p ${BUILD_DIR} && cd ${BUILD_DIR}
   - ${SRC_DIR}/configure ${CONFIG} || { cat config.log && exit 1; }
 script:
-  - make ${MAKEFLAGS} && ${TEST_CMD}
+  - make -j3 && ${TEST_CMD}
 
 
 matrix:
@@ -255,9 +254,7 @@ matrix:
 
     - env:
         - CONFIG="--disable-system --disable-docs"
-        - TEST_CMD="make check-tcg"
-      script:
-        - make ${MAKEFLAGS} && ${TEST_CMD} ${MAKEFLAGS}
+        - TEST_CMD="make -j3 check-tcg"
       sudo: required
       dist: trusty
       compiler: gcc