diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index d13e13dda8b..6b3bb6c7c78 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ env:
 
 jobs:
   include:
+    - name: "Run the Backend tests"
+      install:
+        - "cd src && npm install && cd -"
+      script:
+        - "tests/frontend/travis/runnerBackend.sh"
     - name: "Test the Frontend"
       install:
         - "bin/installDeps.sh"
diff --git a/tests/frontend/travis/runner.sh b/tests/frontend/travis/runner.sh
index 504bf1f2d84..2a4d76bd2aa 100755
--- a/tests/frontend/travis/runner.sh
+++ b/tests/frontend/travis/runner.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+if [ -z "${SAUCE_USERNAME}" ]; then echo "SAUCE_USERNAME is unset - exiting"; exit 1; fi
+if [ -z "${SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY}" ]; then echo "SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY is unset - exiting"; exit 1; fi
 
 # do not continue if there is an error
 set -eu
diff --git a/tests/frontend/travis/runnerBackend.sh b/tests/frontend/travis/runnerBackend.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..50e5ce36b77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/frontend/travis/runnerBackend.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# do not continue if there is an error
+set -eu
+
+# source: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59895/get-the-source-directory-of-a-bash-script-from-within-the-script-itself#246128
+MY_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null && pwd )"
+
+# reliably move to the etherpad base folder before running it
+cd "${MY_DIR}/../../../"
+
+# start Etherpad, assuming all dependencies are already installed.
+#
+# This is possible because the "install" section of .travis.yml already contains
+# a call to bin/installDeps.sh
+echo "Running Etherpad directly, assuming bin/installDeps.sh has already been run"
+node node_modules/ep_etherpad-lite/node/server.js "${@}" > /dev/null &
+
+echo "Now I will try for 15 seconds to connect to Etherpad on http://localhost:9001"
+
+# wait for at most 15 seconds until Etherpad starts accepting connections
+#
+# modified from:
+# https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/5277/how-do-i-tell-a-script-to-wait-for-a-process-to-start-accepting-requests-on-a-po#349138
+#
+(timeout 15 bash -c 'until echo > /dev/tcp/localhost/9001; do sleep 0.5; done') || \
+    (echo "Could not connect to Etherpad on http://localhost:9001" ; exit 1)
+
+echo "Successfully connected to Etherpad on http://localhost:9001"
+
+# just in case, let's wait for another second before going on
+sleep 1
+
+# a copy of settings.json is necessary for the backend tests to work
+cp settings.json.template settings.json
+
+# run the backend tests
+echo "Now run the backend tests"
+cd src
+npm run test
+exit_code=$?
+
+kill $!
+sleep 5
+
+exit $exit_code
diff --git a/tests/frontend/travis/sauce_tunnel.sh b/tests/frontend/travis/sauce_tunnel.sh
index f85d67e5971..b8e1bc59e58 100755
--- a/tests/frontend/travis/sauce_tunnel.sh
+++ b/tests/frontend/travis/sauce_tunnel.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 #          example https://saucelabs.com/downloads/sc-4.5.4-linux.tar.gz
 #          Supported versions are currently listed at:
 #          https://wiki.saucelabs.com/display/DOCS/Downloading+Sauce+Connect+Proxy
+if [ -z "${SAUCE_USERNAME}" ]; then echo "SAUCE_USERNAME is unset - exiting"; exit 1; fi
+if [ -z "${SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY}" ]; then echo "SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY is unset - exiting"; exit 1; fi
+
 curl https://saucelabs.com/downloads/sc-4.5.4-linux.tar.gz > /tmp/sauce.tar.gz
 tar zxf /tmp/sauce.tar.gz --directory /tmp
 mv /tmp/sc-*-linux /tmp/sauce_connect