diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 104f94c51..1552c56a5 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ before_install:
  - travis_retry python3 -m pip install --user pexpect # imported by tools/ci.py
  - travis_retry python3 -m pip install --user requests # imported by tools/pr.py
  - travis_retry python3 -m pip install --user pygments
- - travis_retry sudo python3 -m pip install demjson # installs jsonlint => sudo required
  - travis_retry python3 -m pip install --user natsort
  - cp externals/z3_version_old.h externals/z3_version.h # because travis z3 version is old
 
@@ -183,7 +182,7 @@ matrix:
         - make -s -j2 CXXFLAGS=-funsigned-char testrunner
         - ./testrunner TestSymbolDatabase
 # check .json files
-        - find . -name '*.json' -not -path '*/\.*' | xargs jsonlint -s
+        - find . -name '*.json' | xargs -n 1 python3 -m json.tool > /dev/null
 # build fuzz client
         - make -s -j2 CXXFLAGS="-fsanitize=address" -C oss-fuzz fuzz-client