diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 079d7e82b72b642a597589aa7c7aa589b2d8a24a..159fd2d88ca6c63d76aae7ffcc9e0f1ef603f73b 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ install:
   - pip install coveralls
 env:
   global:
-    - PYTHONHASHSEED=0 
+    - PYTHONHASHSEED=0
+    - MKL_THREADING_LAYER=GNU  # for theano
   matrix:
     - KERAS_BACKEND=theano
     - KERAS_BACKEND=tensorflow