diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 30b8ab16c..66226d6fd 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# this is a workaround because some OpenCL headers cause problems with older gcc compilers (undefined macro: _WIN32)
+before_install:
+ - sed -i 's/if _WIN32/if defined (_WIN32)/' deps/OpenCL-Headers/CL/cl_platform.h
 os:
   - linux
   - osx