diff --git a/src/travis/linux-x86_64-before-install.sh b/src/travis/linux-x86_64-before-install.sh
index 00c6e6a0..f93c48c0 100755
--- a/src/travis/linux-x86_64-before-install.sh
+++ b/src/travis/linux-x86_64-before-install.sh
@@ -53,11 +53,16 @@ else
     tar xf Python-$BUILD_PYTHON_VERSION.tar.xz
   fi
   cd Python-$BUILD_PYTHON_VERSION
+  if [[ "$dist" == "bionic" ]]; then
+    echo "running bionic make clean"
+    make clean
+  fi
   echo "Compiling Python $BUILD_PYTHON_VERSION..."
   safe_flags="--with-openssl=$mypath/ssl --enable-shared --prefix=$mypath/python --with-ensurepip=upgrade"
   unsafe_flags="--enable-optimizations --with-lto"
+  
   if [ ! -e Makefile ]; then
-    ./configure $safe_flags # $unsafe_flags > /dev/null
+    ./configure $safe_flags $unsafe_flags > /dev/null
   fi
   make -j$cpucount -s
   RESULT=$?