diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index bd4e1030..dd01fc9e 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ before_install:
       DB=mysql bash ci/init-db.sh
       pip install 'mysql-connector-python'
     elif [[ $JUPYTERHUB_TEST_DB_URL == postgresql* ]]; then
+      psql -c "CREATE USER $PGUSER WITH PASSWORD '$PGPASSWORD';" -U postgres
       DB=postgres bash ci/init-db.sh
       pip install psycopg2-binary
     fi
@@ -87,7 +88,10 @@ matrix:
         - JUPYTERHUB_TEST_DB_URL=mysql+mysqlconnector://root@127.0.0.1:$MYSQL_TCP_PORT/jupyterhub
     - python: 3.6
       env:
-        - JUPYTERHUB_TEST_DB_URL=postgresql://postgres@127.0.0.1/jupyterhub
+        - PGUSER=jupyterhub
+        - PGPASSWORD=hub[test/:?
+        # password in url is url-encoded (urllib.parse.quote($PGPASSWORD, safe=''))
+        - JUPYTERHUB_TEST_DB_URL=postgresql://jupyterhub:hub%5Btest%2F%3A%3F@127.0.0.1/jupyterhub
     - python: 3.7
       dist: xenial
   allow_failures:
diff --git a/ci/docker-db.sh b/ci/docker-db.sh
index 6f00be03..14e06388 100755
--- a/ci/docker-db.sh
+++ b/ci/docker-db.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # source this file to setup postgres and mysql
 # for local testing (as similar as possible to docker)
 
-set -e
+set -eu
 
 export MYSQL_HOST=127.0.0.1
 export MYSQL_TCP_PORT=${MYSQL_TCP_PORT:-13306}
@@ -40,6 +40,15 @@ for i in {1..60}; do
 done
 $CHECK
 
+case "$DB" in
+"mysql")
+  ;;
+"postgres")
+  # create the user
+  psql --user postgres -c "CREATE USER $PGUSER WITH PASSWORD '$PGPASSWORD';"
+  ;;
+*)
+esac
 
 echo -e "
 Set these environment variables:
diff --git a/ci/init-db.sh b/ci/init-db.sh
index d9d45721..dfeb12b4 100755
--- a/ci/init-db.sh
+++ b/ci/init-db.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # initialize jupyterhub databases for testing
 
-set -e
+set -eu
 
 MYSQL="mysql --user root --host $MYSQL_HOST --port $MYSQL_TCP_PORT -e "
 PSQL="psql --user postgres -c "
@@ -23,5 +23,5 @@ set -x
 
 for SUFFIX in '' _upgrade_072 _upgrade_081 _upgrade_094; do
     $SQL "DROP DATABASE jupyterhub${SUFFIX};" 2>/dev/null || true
-    $SQL "CREATE DATABASE jupyterhub${SUFFIX} ${EXTRA_CREATE};"
+    $SQL "CREATE DATABASE jupyterhub${SUFFIX} ${EXTRA_CREATE:-};"
 done
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_db.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_db.py
index faf1443f..9369cd77 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_db.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_db.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def generate_old_db(env_dir, hub_version, db_url):
     if 'mysql' in db_url:
         pkgs.append('mysql-connector-python')
     elif 'postgres' in db_url:
-        pkgs.append('psycopg2')
+        pkgs.append('psycopg2-binary')
     check_call([env_pip, 'install'] + pkgs)
     check_call([env_py, populate_db, db_url])