diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index af3b7c41e46dabd22a87706ad010705b71b95eca..b29432eeff8a28e2af5359f47bd6923553a039d4 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@ php:
 matrix:
   allow_failures:
   - php: hhvm
-before_script: composer install --dev
+before_script:
+- if [[ "$TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION" == "5.3" -o "$TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION" == "5.4" ]];
+  then composer install --dev --prefer-lowest; else
+  composer install --dev;
+  fi
 script: phpunit --configuration tools/phpunit
 after_script:
 - if [[ "$TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION" == "5.6" ]]; then php vendor/bin/coveralls -v; fi