diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 6e98e9d5..976fde03 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -6,3 +6,8 @@ python:
 
 install: pip install virtualenv
 script: make
+
+
+before_install:
+  - git config --global user.name "Travis CI"
+  - git config --global user.email "user@example.com"
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 30cdf8ab..377a7bb5 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ def empty_git_dir(tmpdir):
 
 def add_and_commit():
     local['git']['add', '.']()
-    local['git']['commit', '-m', 'random commit', '--author', 'A U Thor <author@example.com>']()
+    local['git']['commit', '-m', 'random commit']()
 
 
 @pytest.yield_fixture