diff --git a/run_integration_tests.go b/run_integration_tests.go
index 00fe598fc..f820d49a9 100644
--- a/run_integration_tests.go
+++ b/run_integration_tests.go
@@ -150,6 +150,15 @@ func (env *TravisEnvironment) RunTests() error {
 
 	env.env["GOPATH"] = cwd + ":" + filepath.Join(cwd, "vendor")
 
+	// ensure that the following tests cannot be silently skipped on Travis
+	ensureTests := []string{
+		"restic/backend/rest.TestBackendREST",
+		"restic/backend/sftp.TestBackendSFTP",
+		"restic/backend/s3.TestBackendMinio",
+		"restic/backend/s3.TestBackendS3",
+	}
+	env.env["RESTIC_TEST_DISALLOW_SKIP"] = strings.Join(ensureTests, ",")
+
 	if *runCrossCompile {
 		// compile for all target architectures with tags
 		for _, tags := range []string{"release", "debug"} {
diff --git a/src/restic/backend/rest/rest_test.go b/src/restic/backend/rest/rest_test.go
index d378a364f..e8ed57646 100644
--- a/src/restic/backend/rest/rest_test.go
+++ b/src/restic/backend/rest/rest_test.go
@@ -60,7 +60,13 @@ func runRESTServer(ctx context.Context, t testing.TB, dir string) func() {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestBackend(t *testing.T) {
+func TestBackendREST(t *testing.T) {
+	defer func() {
+		if t.Skipped() {
+			SkipDisallowed(t, "restic/backend/rest.TestBackendREST")
+		}
+	}()
+
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	defer cancel()
 
diff --git a/src/restic/backend/s3/s3_test.go b/src/restic/backend/s3/s3_test.go
index 22710f92e..b6859bcd4 100644
--- a/src/restic/backend/s3/s3_test.go
+++ b/src/restic/backend/s3/s3_test.go
@@ -97,6 +97,12 @@ func newCredentials(t testing.TB) (key, secret string) {
 }
 
 func TestBackendMinio(t *testing.T) {
+	defer func() {
+		if t.Skipped() {
+			SkipDisallowed(t, "restic/backend/s3.TestBackendMinio")
+		}
+	}()
+
 	// try to find a minio binary
 	_, err := exec.LookPath("minio")
 	if err != nil {
@@ -179,6 +185,12 @@ func TestBackendMinio(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestBackendS3(t *testing.T) {
+	defer func() {
+		if t.Skipped() {
+			SkipDisallowed(t, "restic/backend/s3.TestBackendS3")
+		}
+	}()
+
 	vars := []string{
 		"RESTIC_TEST_S3_KEY",
 		"RESTIC_TEST_S3_SECRET",
diff --git a/src/restic/backend/sftp/sftp_test.go b/src/restic/backend/sftp/sftp_test.go
index dd9728676..8fb46d2a1 100644
--- a/src/restic/backend/sftp/sftp_test.go
+++ b/src/restic/backend/sftp/sftp_test.go
@@ -29,7 +29,13 @@ func findSFTPServerBinary() string {
 
 var sftpServer = findSFTPServerBinary()
 
-func TestBackend(t *testing.T) {
+func TestBackendSFTP(t *testing.T) {
+	defer func() {
+		if t.Skipped() {
+			SkipDisallowed(t, "restic/backend/sftp.TestBackendSFTP")
+		}
+	}()
+
 	if sftpServer == "" {
 		t.Skip("sftp server binary not found")
 	}
diff --git a/src/restic/test/vars.go b/src/restic/test/vars.go
index 908e4bf6b..616f969f6 100644
--- a/src/restic/test/vars.go
+++ b/src/restic/test/vars.go
@@ -3,19 +3,22 @@ package test
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
 )
 
 var (
-	TestPassword          = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_PASSWORD", "geheim")
-	TestCleanupTempDirs   = getBoolVar("RESTIC_TEST_CLEANUP", true)
-	TestTempDir           = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_TMPDIR", "")
-	RunIntegrationTest    = getBoolVar("RESTIC_TEST_INTEGRATION", true)
-	RunFuseTest           = getBoolVar("RESTIC_TEST_FUSE", true)
-	TestSFTPPath          = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_SFTPPATH", "/usr/lib/ssh:/usr/lib/openssh:/usr/libexec")
-	TestWalkerPath        = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_PATH", ".")
-	BenchArchiveDirectory = getStringVar("RESTIC_BENCH_DIR", ".")
-	TestS3Server          = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_S3_SERVER", "")
-	TestRESTServer        = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_REST_SERVER", "")
+	TestPassword                = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_PASSWORD", "geheim")
+	TestCleanupTempDirs         = getBoolVar("RESTIC_TEST_CLEANUP", true)
+	TestTempDir                 = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_TMPDIR", "")
+	RunIntegrationTest          = getBoolVar("RESTIC_TEST_INTEGRATION", true)
+	RunFuseTest                 = getBoolVar("RESTIC_TEST_FUSE", true)
+	TestSFTPPath                = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_SFTPPATH", "/usr/lib/ssh:/usr/lib/openssh:/usr/libexec")
+	TestWalkerPath              = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_PATH", ".")
+	BenchArchiveDirectory       = getStringVar("RESTIC_BENCH_DIR", ".")
+	TestS3Server                = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_S3_SERVER", "")
+	TestRESTServer              = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_REST_SERVER", "")
+	TestIntegrationDisallowSkip = getStringVar("RESTIC_TEST_DISALLOW_SKIP", "")
 )
 
 func getStringVar(name, defaultValue string) string {
@@ -40,3 +43,15 @@ func getBoolVar(name string, defaultValue bool) bool {
 
 	return defaultValue
 }
+
+// SkipDisallowed fails the test if it needs to run. The environment
+// variable RESTIC_TEST_DISALLOW_SKIP contains a comma-separated list of test
+// names that must be run. If name is in this list, the test is marked as
+// failed.
+func SkipDisallowed(t testing.TB, name string) {
+	for _, s := range strings.Split(TestIntegrationDisallowSkip, ",") {
+		if s == name {
+			t.Fatalf("test %v is in list of tests that need to run ($RESTIC_TEST_DISALLOW_SKIP)", name)
+		}
+	}
+}