diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index bfd602e4..b6ae5153 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@ install:
 
 before_script: rethinkdb --daemon
 
-script: py.test -v --cov=bigchaindb
+script: py.test -n8 -v --cov=bigchaindb
 
 after_success: codecov
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 901d84c7..e0130711 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ tests_require = [
     'pylint',
     'pytest',
     'pytest-cov',
+    'pytest-xdist',
 ]
 
 dev_require = [