diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 10804a113e189c5b8cb5b0220170f7de1b8d3e77..be8bdfb31c1daea99c223287e8449598861721a8 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -144,6 +144,9 @@ molecule-test:
   before_script:
     # - apt-get update && apt-get install -y python3-pip && apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
     - apk add --no-cache python3 py3-pip
+    #####
+    - rm /usr/lib/python*/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED
+    - python3 -m ensurepip
     - pip install -r ci-cd/requirements.txt
     # - pip3 install -r ci-cd/requirements.txt
     # - pip3 install --upgrade molecule molecule-docker