diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 6f468625f..bc1324dad 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -94,6 +94,16 @@ matrix:
       env: SWIGLANG=php5
       sudo: required
       dist: trusty
+    - compiler: gcc
+      os: linux
+      env: SWIGLANG=php VER=7.0
+      sudo: required
+      dist: trusty
+    - compiler: gcc
+      os: linux
+      env: SWIGLANG=php VER=7.1
+      sudo: required
+      dist: trusty
     - compiler: gcc
       os: linux
       env: SWIGLANG=python VER=2.4
@@ -276,6 +286,12 @@ matrix:
       env: SWIGLANG=python SWIG_FEATURES=-O
       sudo: required
       dist: trusty
+    # php7.1 nearly working
+    - compiler: gcc
+      os: linux
+      env: SWIGLANG=php VER=7.1
+      sudo: required
+      dist: trusty
 before_install:
   - date -u
   - uname -a
diff --git a/Tools/travis-linux-install.sh b/Tools/travis-linux-install.sh
index 19a8fb79e..87801d398 100755
--- a/Tools/travis-linux-install.sh
+++ b/Tools/travis-linux-install.sh
@@ -74,6 +74,11 @@ case "$SWIGLANG" in
 	"php5")
 		sudo apt-get -qq install php5-cli php5-dev
 		;;
+	"php")
+		sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/php
+		sudo apt-get -qq update
+		sudo apt-get -qq install php$VER-cli php$VER-dev
+		;;
 	"python")
 		sudo apt-get -qq install pep8
 		if [[ "$PY3" ]]; then
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b99a3a0a3..00aa887b5 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1960,7 +1960,7 @@ if test x"${PHPBIN}" = xno; then
     PHP=
 else
     if test "x$PHPBIN" = xyes; then
-      AC_CHECK_PROGS(PHP, [php7.0 php])
+      AC_CHECK_PROGS(PHP, [php7.1 php7.0 php])
     else
       PHP=$PHPBIN
     fi