diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index e158510f5bc22076e5b2f4f3e7810018111db76d..9d26ec83fde3df15426a8c073461c8f5286ae851 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -116,6 +116,8 @@ jobs:
   allow_failures:
     - dist: xenial
     - env: TEST_SUITE=docker
+    # temporary Python 2.6 exception while we figure out why Travis is hanging
+    - python: '2.6'
 
 stages:
   - 'style checks'