diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index 985d1ab0..a29161ca 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@ dependencies:
       # setup tap report
       - mkdir -p ${CIRCLE_TEST_REPORTS}/tap-xunit/
   override:
-      # install zmq
-      - sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libzmq3-dev
+      # add rethinkdb sources
+      - source /etc/lsb-release && echo "deb http://download.rethinkdb.com/apt $DISTRIB_CODENAME main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rethinkdb.list
+      - wget -qO- https://download.rethinkdb.com/apt/pubkey.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
+      # install zmq and rdb
+      - sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libzmq3-dev rethinkdb
       # install node dependencies
       - yarn install
       - yarn run prepare