diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index dff07079..7f86129f 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 language: php
+services:
+  - mysql
 php:
   - 5.5
   - 5.4
@@ -8,6 +10,7 @@ before_script:
 # pear.phpunit.de offline, and travis have phpunit 
 #  - pear channel-discover pear.phpunit.de
 #  - pear install phpunit/DbUnit
+  - mysql -e 'create database alternc_test;'
   - cd phpunit
 after_script:
   - wget https://scrutinizer-ci.com/ocular.phar