diff --git a/lib/manager/travis/index.js b/lib/manager/travis/index.js
index d3e12e07bfa434c21cdfcf397aefc10be9fdce6b..a5fcaccadd598a698ab094e81e6700f70e38e973 100644
--- a/lib/manager/travis/index.js
+++ b/lib/manager/travis/index.js
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ const { resolvePackageFile } = require('./resolve');
 const { setNewValue } = require('./update');
 
 const filePattern = new RegExp('^.travis.yml$');
+const contentPattern = new RegExp('(^|\\n)node_js:\\n');
 
 module.exports = {
+  contentPattern,
   extractDependencies,
   filePattern,
   getPackageUpdates,
diff --git a/test/manager/index.spec.js b/test/manager/index.spec.js
index 03651df944caeec32dac956e15a9400d7bc4f596..10f3e59c1a7c7c9f28b800fd2f8ca011814e61ef 100644
--- a/test/manager/index.spec.js
+++ b/test/manager/index.spec.js
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ describe('manager', () => {
         '.travis.yml',
         'other/.travis.yml',
       ]);
+      platform.getFile.mockReturnValueOnce('sudo: true\nnode_js:\n  -8\n');
       const res = await manager.detectPackageFiles(config);
       expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
       expect(res).toHaveLength(1);