diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 01be4b526..e2e72f804 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,26 +1,36 @@
 language: java
+os: linux
+jdk: oraclejdk8
+
+env:
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validate"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validate"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateUniversal"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateUniversal"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateJar"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateJar"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateBash"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateBash"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateAsh"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateAsh"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateRpm"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateRpm"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateDebian"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateDebian"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateDocker"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateDocker"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="validateJdkPackager"
+  - SBT_TEST_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6 validateJdkPackager"
 
 before_install:
   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" = "osx" ]]; then
       brew update;
       brew install xz;
     fi
-script:
-  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" = "osx" ]]; then
-      ./sbt "$SBT_VERSION_CMD validateOSX" ;
-    fi
-  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" = "linux" ]]; then
-      ./sbt "$SBT_VERSION_CMD validateLinux" ;
-    fi
+script: ./sbt "$SBT_TEST_CMD" ;
 
 matrix:
   include:
-    - os: linux
-      env: SBT_VERSION_CMD="++2.10.6"
-      jdk: oraclejdk8
-    - os: linux
-      env: SBT_VERSION_CMD="++2.12.2 ^^1.0.0-M6"
-      jdk: oraclejdk8
       # oraclejdk8 is not yet available.
       # see https://github.com/travis-ci/travis-ci/issues/2316
     - os: osx
diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 9972dfcd3..852982bfa 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -129,15 +129,20 @@ bintrayRepository := "sbt-plugin-releases"
 scalafmtConfig := Some(file(".scalafmt.conf"))
 
 // ci commands
-addCommandAlias(
-  "validate",
-  "; update ; test ; set scriptedBufferLog := false ; scripted jdkpackager/test-package-minimal jdkpackager/test-package-mappings"
-)
-addCommandAlias("validateUnix", "scripted universal/* jar/* bash/* ash/*")
-
-addCommandAlias("validateOSX", "; validate ; validateUnix")
-addCommandAlias(
-  "validateLinux",
-  "; validate ; validateUnix ; scripted rpm/* debian/* docker/staging docker/entrypoint docker/ports docker/volumes"
-)
-addCommandAlias("validateWindows", ";test-only * -- -n windows;scripted universal/dist universal/stage windows/*")
+addCommandAlias("validate", "; clean ; update ; test")
+
+// List all scripted test separately to schedule them in different travis-ci jobs.
+// Travis-CI has hard timeouts for jobs, so we run them in smaller jobs as the scripted
+// tests take quite some time to run.
+// Ultimatley we should run only those tests that are necessary for a change
+addCommandAlias("validateUniversal", "scripted universal/*")
+addCommandAlias("validateJar", "scripted jar/*")
+addCommandAlias("validateBash", "scripted bash/*")
+addCommandAlias("validateAsh", "scripted ash/*")
+addCommandAlias("validateRpm", "scripted rpm/*")
+addCommandAlias("validateDebian", "scripted debian/*")
+addCommandAlias("validateDocker", "scripted docker/*")
+addCommandAlias("validateJdkPackager", "scripted docker/*")
+
+// TODO check the cygwin scripted tests and run them on appveyor
+addCommandAlias("validateWindows", "; test-only * -- -n windows;scripted universal/dist universal/stage windows/*")