diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 26220e2f0..2044d747c 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ before_script:
  - phpenv config-rm xdebug.ini
  - "export DISPLAY=\":99\""
  - "export XVFBARGS=\":99 -ac -screen 0 1024x768x16\""
+ - "export COMPOSER_ROOT_VERSION=4.0.x-dev"
  - "if [ \"$na\" = \"\" ]; then composer install --prefer-dist; fi"
  - "if [ \"$DB\" = \"PGSQL\" ]; then composer require silverstripe/postgresql:2.0.x-dev --prefer-dist; fi"
  - "if [ \"$DB\" = \"SQLITE\" ]; then composer require silverstripe/sqlite3:2.0.x-dev --prefer-dist; fi"
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap.php b/tests/bootstrap.php
index 18383f88c..2bf3ee722 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap.php
@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@
 use SilverStripe\ORM\DB;
 use SilverStripe\Dev\SapphireTest;
 
+if(!defined('BASE_PATH')) {
+	echo "BASE_PATH hasn't been defined. This probably means that framework/Core/Constants.php hasn't been " .
+		"included by Composer's autoloader.\n" .
+		"Make sure the you are running your tests via vendor/bin/phpunit and your autoloader is up to date.\n";
+	exit(1);
+}
+
 
 /**
  * This bootstraps the SilverStripe system so that phpunit can be run directly on SilverStripe tests.