diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 3fa6587..1181eff 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ install:
 script:
   - |-
     echo "using $TOOLSET : : $COMPILER ;" > ~/user-config.jam
-  - ./b2 libs/detail/test toolset=$TOOLSET cxxstd=$CXXSTD
+  - BUILD_JOBS=`(nproc || sysctl -n hw.ncpu) 2> /dev/null`
+  - ./b2 -j $BUILD_JOBS libs/detail/test toolset=$TOOLSET cxxstd=$CXXSTD
 
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