diff --git a/script/ci/before.sh b/script/ci/before.sh
index ca34bd6763ef0b3b3e34e88de76f6eb2fa581369..4e48e425e1ef6b95007c5345ae1b98a54b555684 100755
--- a/script/ci/before.sh
+++ b/script/ci/before.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ sh -e /etc/init.d/xvfb start
 #echo "Regenerating CSS files"
 #bundle exec sass -q --update public/stylesheets/sass/:public/stylesheets/
 
+# setup swapfile
+echo "creating a swapfile"
+sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=swapfile bs=1M count=64
+sudo mkswap swapfile
+sudo swapon swapfile
+
 # Create a database.yml for the right database
 echo "Setting up database.yml for $DB"
 cp config/database.yml.example config/database.yml