diff --git a/.travis.requirements b/.travis.requirements
index 5a7738ab1..ecf711049 100644
--- a/.travis.requirements
+++ b/.travis.requirements
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ requests
 flask
 redis
 python-dateutil
+websockets
diff --git a/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py b/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py
index bebdf3dc3..7ce701530 100644
--- a/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py
+++ b/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py
@@ -116,9 +116,12 @@ class HttpBackend(Backend):
     def _get_redis(self):
         redis_backend = get_backend('redis')
         if not redis_backend:
-            raise RuntimeError('Redis backend not configured')
+            self.logger.warning('Redis backend not configured - some ' +
+                                'web server features may not be working properly')
+            redis_args = {}
+        else:
+            redis_args = redis_backend.redis_args
 
-        redis_args = get_backend('redis').redis_args
         redis = Redis(**redis_args)
         return redis
 
diff --git a/platypush/context/__init__.py b/platypush/context/__init__.py
index ef2142b72..3b1c1e10c 100644
--- a/platypush/context/__init__.py
+++ b/platypush/context/__init__.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def get_backend(name):
     """ Returns the backend instance identified by name if it exists """
 
     global backends
-    return backends[name]
+    return backends.get('name')
 
 
 def get_plugin(plugin_name, reload=False):
diff --git a/tests/etc/config.yaml b/tests/etc/config.yaml
index fbbf75808..e97c1bb2a 100644
--- a/tests/etc/config.yaml
+++ b/tests/etc/config.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-backend.redis:
-    disabled: False
-
 backend.http:
     port: 8123
     disable_websocket: True