diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index f972df1d..5fc0ed67 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ install:
   - node --version
   - npm --version
   - npm install -g elm
+  - |
+    # update this only when sbt-the-bash-script needs to be updated
+    export SBT_LAUNCHER=1.4.8
+    export SBT_OPTS="-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8"
+    curl -L --silent "https://github.com/sbt/sbt/releases/download/v$SBT_LAUNCHER/sbt-$SBT_LAUNCHER.tgz" > $HOME/sbt.tgz
+    tar zxf $HOME/sbt.tgz -C $HOME
+    sudo rm /usr/local/bin/sbt
+    sudo ln -s $HOME/sbt/bin/sbt /usr/local/bin/sbt
 
 before_script:
   - export TZ=Europe/Berlin
diff --git a/project/build.properties b/project/build.properties
index 0b2e09c5..b5ef6fff 100644
--- a/project/build.properties
+++ b/project/build.properties
@@ -1 +1 @@
-sbt.version=1.4.7
+sbt.version=1.4.8