diff --git a/src/thirdparty/build_boost.sh b/src/thirdparty/build_boost.sh
index 9123cc615..1da2ca015 100755
--- a/src/thirdparty/build_boost.sh
+++ b/src/thirdparty/build_boost.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ BOOST_VERSION=1.65.1
 BOOST_VERSION_UNDERSCORE=1_65_1
 
 # Download and compile boost if it isn't already present.
-if [ ! -d $TP_DIR/boost ]; then
+if [[ ! -d $TP_DIR/boost ]]; then
   # The wget command frequently fails, so retry up to 20 times.
   for COUNT in {1..20}; do
     # Attempt to wget boost and break from the retry loop if it succeeds.
diff --git a/src/thirdparty/build_ui.sh b/src/thirdparty/build_ui.sh
index 0e4ad2ccf..975ea13bf 100755
--- a/src/thirdparty/build_ui.sh
+++ b/src/thirdparty/build_ui.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ set -e
 
 TP_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE:-$0}")"; pwd)
 
-CATAPULT_COMMIT=33a9271eb3cf5caf925293ec6a4b47c94f1ac968
+CATAPULT_COMMIT=18cd334755701cf0c3b90b7172126c686d2eb787
 CATAPULT_HOME=$TP_DIR/catapult
 VULCANIZE_BIN=$CATAPULT_HOME/tracing/bin/vulcanize_trace_viewer
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ mkdir -p $CATAPULT_FILES
 
 if [ ! type python2 > /dev/null ]; then
   echo "cannot properly set up UI without a python2 executable"
-  if [ "$INCLUDE_UI" == "1" ]; then
+  if [[ "$INCLUDE_UI" == "1" ]]; then
     # Since the UI is explicitly supposed to be included, fail here.
     exit 1
   else
@@ -29,10 +29,18 @@ fi
 
 # Download catapult and use it to autogenerate some static html if it isn't
 # already present.
-if [ ! -d $CATAPULT_HOME ]; then
+if [[ ! -d $CATAPULT_HOME ]]; then
   echo "setting up catapult"
-  # Clone the catapult repository.
-  git clone https://github.com/catapult-project/catapult.git $CATAPULT_HOME
+  # The git clone command seems to fail in Travis, so retry up to 20 times.
+  for COUNT in {1..20}; do
+    # Attempt to git clone catapult and break from the retry loop if it succeeds.
+    git clone https://github.com/ray-project/catapult.git $CATAPULT_HOME && break
+    # If none of the retries succeeded at getting boost, then fail.
+    if [[ $COUNT == 20 ]]; then
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  done
+
   # Check out the appropriate commit from catapult.
   pushd $CATAPULT_HOME
     git checkout $CATAPULT_COMMIT
@@ -40,7 +48,7 @@ if [ ! -d $CATAPULT_HOME ]; then
 fi
 
 # If the autogenerated catapult files aren't present, then generate them.
-if [ ! -f $CATAPULT_FILES/index.html ]; then
+if [[ ! -f $CATAPULT_FILES/index.html ]]; then
   python2 $VULCANIZE_BIN --config chrome --output $CATAPULT_FILES/trace_viewer_full.html
   cp $CATAPULT_HOME/tracing/bin/index.html $CATAPULT_FILES/index.html
 fi