diff --git a/.travis/run.sh b/.travis/run.sh
index 7c1e847c1..91f6f7663 100755
--- a/.travis/run.sh
+++ b/.travis/run.sh
@@ -13,11 +13,6 @@ if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Darwin" ]]; then
     fi
 fi
 
-source ~/.venv/bin/activate
-
-if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Darwin" ]]; then
-    # no fakeroot on OS X
-    sudo tox -e $TOXENV -r
-else
-    fakeroot -u tox -r
-fi
+# do not use fakeroot, but run as root on travis.
+# avoids the dreaded EISDIR sporadic failures. see #2482.
+sudo bash -c "source ~/.venv/bin/activate ; tox -e $TOXENV -r"
diff --git a/src/borg/testsuite/archiver.py b/src/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
index aa3b390b0..5bc5c1e82 100644
--- a/src/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
+++ b/src/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
@@ -1255,14 +1255,14 @@ class ArchiverTestCase(ArchiverTestCaseBase):
             raise OSError(errno.EACCES, 'EACCES')
 
         self.create_regular_file('file')
-        xattr.setxattr(b'input/file', b'attribute', b'value')
+        xattr.setxattr(b'input/file', b'user.attribute', b'value')
         self.cmd('init', self.repository_location, '-e' 'none')
         self.cmd('create', self.repository_location + '::test', 'input')
         with changedir('output'):
             input_abspath = os.path.abspath('input/file')
             with patch.object(xattr, 'setxattr', patched_setxattr_E2BIG):
                 out = self.cmd('extract', self.repository_location + '::test', exit_code=EXIT_WARNING)
-                assert '>: Value or key of extended attribute attribute is too big for this filesystem\n' in out
+                assert '>: Value or key of extended attribute user.attribute is too big for this filesystem\n' in out
             os.remove(input_abspath)
             with patch.object(xattr, 'setxattr', patched_setxattr_ENOTSUP):
                 out = self.cmd('extract', self.repository_location + '::test', exit_code=EXIT_WARNING)
@@ -1270,7 +1270,7 @@ class ArchiverTestCase(ArchiverTestCaseBase):
             os.remove(input_abspath)
             with patch.object(xattr, 'setxattr', patched_setxattr_EACCES):
                 out = self.cmd('extract', self.repository_location + '::test', exit_code=EXIT_WARNING)
-                assert '>: Permission denied when setting extended attribute attribute\n' in out
+                assert '>: Permission denied when setting extended attribute user.attribute\n' in out
             assert os.path.isfile(input_abspath)
 
     def test_path_normalization(self):
diff --git a/src/borg/testsuite/xattr.py b/src/borg/testsuite/xattr.py
index f9712be09..44d1d12db 100644
--- a/src/borg/testsuite/xattr.py
+++ b/src/borg/testsuite/xattr.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import pytest
 
 from ..platform.xattr import buffer, split_lstring
 from ..xattr import is_enabled, getxattr, setxattr, listxattr
+from ..platformflags import is_linux
 from . import BaseTestCase
 
 
@@ -36,15 +37,19 @@ class XattrTestCase(BaseTestCase):
         setxattr(tmp_fn, b'user.foo', b'bar')
         setxattr(tmp_fd, b'user.bar', b'foo')
         setxattr(tmp_fn, b'user.empty', b'')
-        setxattr(tmp_lfn, b'user.linkxattr', b'baz')
+        if not is_linux:
+            # linux does not allow setting user.* xattrs on symlinks
+            setxattr(tmp_lfn, b'user.linkxattr', b'baz')
         self.assert_equal_se(listxattr(tmp_fn), [b'user.foo', b'user.bar', b'user.empty'])
         self.assert_equal_se(listxattr(tmp_fd), [b'user.foo', b'user.bar', b'user.empty'])
         self.assert_equal_se(listxattr(tmp_lfn, follow_symlinks=True), [b'user.foo', b'user.bar', b'user.empty'])
-        self.assert_equal_se(listxattr(tmp_lfn), [b'user.linkxattr'])
+        if not is_linux:
+            self.assert_equal_se(listxattr(tmp_lfn), [b'user.linkxattr'])
         self.assert_equal(getxattr(tmp_fn, b'user.foo'), b'bar')
         self.assert_equal(getxattr(tmp_fd, b'user.foo'), b'bar')
         self.assert_equal(getxattr(tmp_lfn, b'user.foo', follow_symlinks=True), b'bar')
-        self.assert_equal(getxattr(tmp_lfn, b'user.linkxattr'), b'baz')
+        if not is_linux:
+            self.assert_equal(getxattr(tmp_lfn, b'user.linkxattr'), b'baz')
         self.assert_equal(getxattr(tmp_fn, b'user.empty'), b'')
 
     def test_listxattr_buffer_growth(self):