diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 6c4d6897a69de..bc87853b26d6e 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,24 @@ matrix:
       - JOB_TAG=_LOCALE
       - BUILD_TYPE=conda
       - JOB_NAME: "27_slow_nnet_LOCALE"
+    - python: 2.7
+      env:
+      - NOSE_ARGS="not slow and not disabled"
+      - FULL_DEPS=true
+      - CLIPBOARD_GUI=gtk2
+      - BUILD_TYPE=conda
+      - JOB_NAME: "27_build_test"
+      - JOB_TAG=_BUILD_TEST
+      - BUILD_TEST=true
+    - python: 2.7
+      env:
+      - NOSE_ARGS="not slow and not disabled"
+      - FULL_DEPS=true
+      - CLIPBOARD_GUI=gtk2
+      - BUILD_TYPE=pydata
+      - JOB_NAME: "27_build_test"
+      - JOB_TAG=_BUILD_TEST
+      - BUILD_TEST=true
     - python: 2.7
       env:
       - NOSE_ARGS="not slow and not disabled"
@@ -115,6 +133,24 @@ matrix:
         - NUMPY_BUILD=master
         - BUILD_TYPE=pydata
         - PANDAS_TESTING_MODE="deprecate"
+      - python: 2.7
+        env:
+        - NOSE_ARGS="not slow and not disabled"
+        - FULL_DEPS=true
+        - CLIPBOARD_GUI=gtk2
+        - BUILD_TYPE=conda
+        - JOB_NAME: "27_build_test"
+        - JOB_TAG=_BUILD_TEST
+        - BUILD_TEST=true
+      - python: 2.7
+        env:
+        - NOSE_ARGS="not slow and not disabled"
+        - FULL_DEPS=true
+        - CLIPBOARD_GUI=gtk2
+        - BUILD_TYPE=pydata
+        - JOB_NAME: "27_build_test"
+        - JOB_TAG=_BUILD_TEST
+        - BUILD_TEST=true
 
 before_install:
   - echo "before_install"
diff --git a/ci/install_conda.sh b/ci/install_conda.sh
index 4c8a62c64979d..3b9858595a991 100755
--- a/ci/install_conda.sh
+++ b/ci/install_conda.sh
@@ -96,7 +96,13 @@ if [ "$IRON_TOKEN" ]; then
     export CC='ccache gcc'
 fi
 
-python setup.py build_ext --inplace && python setup.py develop
+if [ "$BUILD_TEST" ]; then
+    pip uninstall --yes cython
+    pip install cython==0.15.1
+    ( python setup.py build_ext --inplace && python setup.py develop ) || true
+else
+    python setup.py build_ext --inplace && python setup.py develop
+fi
 
 for package in beautifulsoup4; do
     pip uninstall --yes $package
diff --git a/ci/install_pydata.sh b/ci/install_pydata.sh
index 33a6d3854da22..f2ab5af34dc64 100755
--- a/ci/install_pydata.sh
+++ b/ci/install_pydata.sh
@@ -137,8 +137,15 @@ if [ "$IRON_TOKEN" ]; then
 fi
 
 # build pandas
-python setup.py build_ext --inplace
-python setup.py develop
+if [ "$BUILD_TEST" ]; then
+    pip uninstall --yes cython
+    pip install cython==0.15.1
+    ( python setup.py build_ext --inplace ) || true
+    ( python setup.py develop ) || true
+else
+    python setup.py build_ext --inplace
+    python setup.py develop
+fi
 
 # restore cython (if not numpy building)
 if [ -z "$NUMPY_BUILD" ]; then
diff --git a/ci/requirements-2.7_BUILD_TEST.txt b/ci/requirements-2.7_BUILD_TEST.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b273ca043c4a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/requirements-2.7_BUILD_TEST.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+dateutil
+pytz
+numpy
+cython
+nose
diff --git a/ci/script.sh b/ci/script.sh
index b1ba7ba79c816..fe9db792df5e7 100755
--- a/ci/script.sh
+++ b/ci/script.sh
@@ -16,9 +16,12 @@ fi
 "$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR"/ci/build_docs.sh 2>&1 > /tmp/doc.log &
 # doc build log will be shown after tests
 
-
-echo nosetests --exe -A "$NOSE_ARGS" pandas --with-xunit --xunit-file=/tmp/nosetests.xml
-nosetests --exe -A "$NOSE_ARGS" pandas --with-xunit --xunit-file=/tmp/nosetests.xml
+if [ "$BUILD_TEST" ]; then
+    echo "We are not running nosetests as this is simply a build test."
+else
+    echo nosetests --exe -A "$NOSE_ARGS" pandas --with-xunit --xunit-file=/tmp/nosetests.xml
+    nosetests --exe -A "$NOSE_ARGS" pandas --with-xunit --xunit-file=/tmp/nosetests.xml
+fi
 
 RET="$?"
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d4ef6a1d896d8..8066a6e0cae4f 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -11,13 +11,17 @@
 import shutil
 import warnings
 import re
+from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 
 # may need to work around setuptools bug by providing a fake Pyrex
+min_cython_ver = '0.19.1'
 try:
     import Cython
     sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "fake_pyrex"))
+    ver = Cython.__version__
+    _CYTHON_INSTALLED = ver >= LooseVersion(min_cython_ver)
 except ImportError:
-    pass
+    _CYTHON_INSTALLED = False
 
 # try bootstrapping setuptools if it doesn't exist
 try:
@@ -74,6 +78,8 @@
 from distutils.command.build_ext import build_ext as _build_ext
 
 try:
+    if not _CYTHON_INSTALLED:
+        raise ImportError('No supported version of Cython installed.')
     from Cython.Distutils import build_ext as _build_ext
     # from Cython.Distutils import Extension # to get pyrex debugging symbols
     cython = True