diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b10b0b9230..e74f3ded53 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ script:
   #  --source_dir `pwd` --start_db '' --autostart_db '' --start_webserver '' --webserver_user ''
   # Ubuntu has problems with #!/usr/bin/env php -dapc.enable=1, it stalls forever
   - php -dapc.enable_cli=1 doc/test-cli.php
-  - ./doc/php_syntax_check.sh
+  # do not run syntax check for hhvm, as it always fails / get terminated after 10m
+  - test $(phpenv version-name) = 'hhvm' || ./doc/php_syntax_check.sh
 
 cache:
   directories: