diff --git a/phpunit.xml b/phpunit.xml
index 79304e9ba991a..e600cae2fe6ee 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml
+++ b/phpunit.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 	convertNoticesToExceptions="true"
 	convertWarningsToExceptions="true"
 	verbose="true"
+	syntaxCheck="true"
 	>
 	<testsuites>
 		<testsuite name="WooCommerce Test Suite">
diff --git a/phpunit.xml.dist b/phpunit.xml.dist
index b6e6e951839df..670e54463c0d9 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml.dist
+++ b/phpunit.xml.dist
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 	convertNoticesToExceptions="true"
 	convertWarningsToExceptions="true"
 	verbose="true"
+	syntaxCheck="true"
 	>
 	<testsuites>
 		<testsuite name="WooCommerce Test Suite">
diff --git a/tests/bin/travis.sh b/tests/bin/travis.sh
index 7a8a931368b5a..c1e72432f7d32 100644
--- a/tests/bin/travis.sh
+++ b/tests/bin/travis.sh
@@ -3,15 +3,6 @@
 
 if [ $1 == 'before' ]; then
 
-	# Lint files
-	for file in $(find . -name "*.php" -and -not -path "./tmp/*" -and -not -path "./tests/*" -and -not -path "./apigen/*"); do
-		output=$( php -l $file )
-		if [[ $output == *"Errors parsing"* ]]; then
-			echo "Build stopped because of a syntax error: $output";
-			exit 1;
-		fi
-	done
-
 	# composer install fails in PHP 5.2
 	[ $TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION == '5.2' ] && exit;