diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 074b049..f7d6791 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@ go:
   - 1.12.x
 
 env:
-  global:
-    # - GOTFLAGS="-race"
   matrix:
     - BUILD_DEPTYPE=gomod
 
@@ -16,8 +14,10 @@ env:
 install:
   - true
 
+# run tests with and without race detection
 script:
   - bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ipfs/ci-helpers/master/travis-ci/run-standard-tests.sh)
+  - GOTFLAGS="-race" bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ipfs/ci-helpers/master/travis-ci/run-standard-tests.sh)
 
 cache:
   directories:
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8f5dc94..8cc218f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ go 1.12
 
 require (
 	github.com/ipfs/go-log v0.0.1
+	github.com/jbenet/go-detect-race v0.0.0-20150302022421-3463798d9574
 	github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-crypto v0.0.1
 	github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peer v0.1.0
 	github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-transport v0.0.5-0.20190506231221-045097a6a962
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 8b544ac..f6b0643 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ github.com/ipfs/go-ds-leveldb v0.0.1/go.mod h1:feO8V3kubwsEF22n0YRQCffeb79OOYIyk
 github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-delay v0.0.0-20181109222059-70721b86a9a8/go.mod h1:8SP1YXK1M1kXuc4KJZINY3TQQ03J2rwBG9QfXmbRPrw=
 github.com/ipfs/go-log v0.0.1 h1:9XTUN/rW64BCG1YhPK9Hoy3q8nr4gOmHHBpgFdfw6Lc=
 github.com/ipfs/go-log v0.0.1/go.mod h1:kL1d2/hzSpI0thNYjiKfjanbVNU+IIGA/WnNESY9leM=
+github.com/jbenet/go-detect-race v0.0.0-20150302022421-3463798d9574 h1:Pxjl8Wn3cCU7nB/MCmPEUMbjMHxXFqODW6rce0jpxB4=
+github.com/jbenet/go-detect-race v0.0.0-20150302022421-3463798d9574/go.mod h1:gynVu6LUw+xMXD3XEvjHQcIbJkWEamnGjJDebRHqTd0=
 github.com/jbenet/goprocess v0.0.0-20160826012719-b497e2f366b8 h1:bspPhN+oKYFk5fcGNuQzp6IGzYQSenLEgH3s6jkXrWw=
 github.com/jbenet/goprocess v0.0.0-20160826012719-b497e2f366b8/go.mod h1:Ly/wlsjFq/qrU3Rar62tu1gASgGw6chQbSh/XgIIXCY=
 github.com/jessevdk/go-flags v0.0.0-20141203071132-1679536dcc89/go.mod h1:4FA24M0QyGHXBuZZK/XkWh8h0e1EYbRYJSGM75WSRxI=
diff --git a/transport_test.go b/transport_test.go
index c88edf1..167bd84 100644
--- a/transport_test.go
+++ b/transport_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"runtime"
 	"testing"
 
+	detectrace "github.com/jbenet/go-detect-race"
 	peer "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peer"
 	tpt "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-transport"
 	utils "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-transport/test"
@@ -15,34 +16,41 @@ import (
 // in order to disable some tests while we investigate performance issues when
 // running the tests on resource restricted environments like the Travis CI.
 
-var Subtests = []func(t *testing.T, ta, tb tpt.Transport, maddr ma.Multiaddr, peerA peer.ID){
-	utils.SubtestProtocols,
-	utils.SubtestBasic,
-
-	utils.SubtestCancel,
-	utils.SubtestPingPong,
-
-	// Stolen from the stream muxer test suite.
-	utils.SubtestStress1Conn1Stream1Msg,
-	utils.SubtestStress1Conn1Stream100Msg,
-	utils.SubtestStress1Conn100Stream100Msg,
-	utils.SubtestStress50Conn10Stream50Msg,
-	utils.SubtestStress1Conn1000Stream10Msg,
-	utils.SubtestStress1Conn100Stream100Msg10MB,
-	utils.SubtestStreamOpenStress,
-	utils.SubtestStreamReset,
-}
-
 func getFunctionName(i interface{}) string {
 	return runtime.FuncForPC(reflect.ValueOf(i).Pointer()).Name()
 }
 
 func SubtestTransport(t *testing.T, ta, tb tpt.Transport, addr string, peerA peer.ID) {
+	subtests := []func(t *testing.T, ta, tb tpt.Transport, maddr ma.Multiaddr, peerA peer.ID){}
+
+	if detectrace.WithRace() {
+		subtests = []func(t *testing.T, ta, tb tpt.Transport, maddr ma.Multiaddr, peerA peer.ID){
+			utils.SubtestProtocols,
+			utils.SubtestBasic,
+
+			utils.SubtestCancel,
+			utils.SubtestPingPong,
+
+			// Stolen from the stream muxer test suite.
+			utils.SubtestStress1Conn1Stream1Msg,
+		}
+	} else {
+		subtests = []func(t *testing.T, ta, tb tpt.Transport, maddr ma.Multiaddr, peerA peer.ID){
+			utils.SubtestStress1Conn1Stream100Msg,
+			utils.SubtestStress1Conn100Stream100Msg,
+			utils.SubtestStress50Conn10Stream50Msg,
+			utils.SubtestStress1Conn1000Stream10Msg,
+			utils.SubtestStress1Conn100Stream100Msg10MB,
+			utils.SubtestStreamOpenStress,
+			utils.SubtestStreamReset,
+		}
+	}
+
 	maddr, err := ma.NewMultiaddr(addr)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	for _, f := range Subtests {
+	for _, f := range subtests {
 		t.Run(getFunctionName(f), func(t *testing.T) {
 			f(t, ta, tb, maddr, peerA)
 		})