diff --git a/.semaphoreci/setup.sh b/.semaphoreci/setup.sh
index 56bb0169d..e8c6e1e2e 100755
--- a/.semaphoreci/setup.sh
+++ b/.semaphoreci/setup.sh
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ docker version
 pip install --user -r requirements.txt
 
 make pull-images
-make validate
+ci_retry make validate
diff --git a/.semaphoreci/tests.sh b/.semaphoreci/tests.sh
index 15bb0fa6b..2a586ccf6 100755
--- a/.semaphoreci/tests.sh
+++ b/.semaphoreci/tests.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -e
 
-make test-unit && make test-integration
+make test-unit
+ci_retry make test-integration
 make -j${N_MAKE_JOBS} crossbinary-default-parallel
diff --git a/.semaphoreci/vars b/.semaphoreci/vars
index a17eabb76..5d2eb94ed 100644
--- a/.semaphoreci/vars
+++ b/.semaphoreci/vars
@@ -17,3 +17,25 @@ fi
 export CODENAME=raclette
 
 export N_MAKE_JOBS=2
+
+
+function ci_retry {
+
+    local NRETRY=3
+    local NSLEEP=5
+    local n=0
+
+    until [ $n -ge $NRETRY ]
+    do
+        "$@" && break
+        n=$[$n+1]
+        echo "$@ failed, attempt ${n}/${NRETRY}"
+        sleep $NSLEEP
+    done
+
+    [ $n -lt $NRETRY ]
+
+}
+
+export -f ci_retry
+