diff --git a/tests/unit/data/travis/sphinx-setup.sh b/tests/unit/data/travis/sphinx-setup.sh
index 1dbaae5..30ac33e 100755
--- a/tests/unit/data/travis/sphinx-setup.sh
+++ b/tests/unit/data/travis/sphinx-setup.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ echo 'yes' | sudo add-apt-repository ppa:builds/sphinxsearch-daily
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install sphinxsearch
 
+# log files
+sudo mkdir /var/log/sphinx
+sudo touch /var/log/sphinx/searchd.log
+sudo touch /var/log/sphinx/query.log
+chmod -R 777 /var/log/sphinx # ugly
+
 # setup test Sphinx indexes:
 indexer --config $CWD/../sphinx/sphinx.conf --all