diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 6cd0e18e..3bf344f7 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ before_install:
   - (sudo aa-status; true)
   #
   - echo "==== System update ===="
-  # Do not run 'upgrade'
+  # Do not run 'upgrade' - takes too long
   - sudo apt-get update
   #
   - echo "==== Install QA/test prerequisites ===="
@@ -43,21 +43,20 @@ install:
   - sudo ./setup/start.sh -v
 
 script:
-  #- sudo find / -name nsd.service
-  #- sudo sed -i 's|-d|-d -4 -a 0.0.0.0@5053 -p 5053 -V 3|' /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nsd.service
-  #- sudo sed -i 's|-d|-d -4 -a 0.0.0.0@5053 -p 5053 -V 3|' /lib/systemd/system/nsd.service
+  # nsd won't start on Travis without the changes below: ip6 off and
+  # control-enable set to no. Even though the nsd docs says the
+  # default value for control-enable is no, running "nsd-checkconf -o
+  # control-enable /etc/nsd/nsd.conf" returns "yes", so we explicitly
+  # set it here.
+  #
+  # we're assuming that the "ip-address" line is the last line in the
+  # "server" section of nsd.conf. if this generated file output
+  # changes, the sed command below may need to be adjusted.
   - sudo sed -i 's/ip-address\(.\)\(.*\)/ip-address\1\2\n  do-ip4\1 yes\n  do-ip6\1 no\n  verbosity\1 3\nremote-control\1\n  control-enable\1 no/' /etc/nsd/nsd.conf
-  - sudo systemctl daemon-reload
-  - sudo systemctl restart nsd
-  - sudo systemctl status -l nsd
-  - sudo cat /var/log/nsd.log
   - sudo cat /etc/nsd/nsd.conf
-  - sudo nsd-checkconf -o port /etc/nsd/nsd.conf
-  - sudo nsd-checkconf -o ip-address /etc/nsd/nsd.conf
-  - sudo cat /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nsd.service
-  - sudo tail -100 /var/log/syslog
-  - sudo ps -efww | grep nsd
-  - sudo ss -lp "sport = 8952"
-  - sudo ss -lp "sport = :domain"
-  - sudo ss -lp "sport = 5053"
+  - sudo systemctl restart nsd
+  - sudo systemctl status nsd
+  #
+  # launch automated tests, but skip tests that require remote
+  # smtp support because Travis-CI blocks outgoing port 25
   - sudo ./tests/runner.sh -dumpoutput -no-smtp-remote
diff --git a/tests/suites/_mgmt-functions.sh b/tests/suites/_mgmt-functions.sh
index c6c406fd..07fbdc5b 100644
--- a/tests/suites/_mgmt-functions.sh
+++ b/tests/suites/_mgmt-functions.sh
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ mgmt_rest() {
 			record "Ignoring curl return code 56 due to 200 status"
 			
 		elif [ $code -ne 16 -o $REST_HTTP_CODE -ne 200 ]; then
+			# any error code will fail the rest call except for a 16
+			# with a 200 HTTP status.
+			# 16="a problem was detected in the HTTP2 framing layer. This is somewhat generic and can be one out of several problems"
 			REST_ERROR="CURL failed with code $code"
 			record "${F_DANGER}$REST_ERROR${F_RESET}"
 			record "$output"
@@ -86,15 +89,6 @@ mgmt_rest() {
 	return 0	
 }
 
-systemctl_reset() {
-	local service="$1"
-	# for travis-ci: reset nsd to avoid "nsd.service: Start request
-	# repeated too quickly", which occurs inside kick() of the
-	# management flask app when "system restart nsd" is called on
-	# detection of a new mail domain
-	record "[systemctl reset-failed $service]"
-	systemctl reset-failed $service 2>&1 >>$TEST_OF
-}
 
 mgmt_create_user() {
 	local email="$1"
@@ -109,15 +103,6 @@ mgmt_create_user() {
 	record "[create user $email]"
 	mgmt_rest POST /admin/mail/users/add "email=$email" "password=$pass"
 	rc=$?
-	if echo "$REST_OUTPUT" | grep "updated DNS:" >/dev/null; then
-		record "[Detected dns update]"
-		systemctl status nsd.service >>$TEST_OF
-		record "Sleeping 5 seconds for services to start"
-		sleep 5
-		systemctl status nsd.service >>$TEST_OF
-		record "[NSD LOG]"
-		cat /var/log/nsd.log >>$TEST_OF
-	fi
 	return $rc
 }