diff --git a/ci/ciimage/common.sh b/ci/ciimage/common.sh
index f6a52aef4..6209ef9a1 100644
--- a/ci/ciimage/common.sh
+++ b/ci/ciimage/common.sh
@@ -39,9 +39,11 @@ dub_fetch() {
 }
 
 install_minimal_python_packages() {
+  rm -f /usr/lib/python3.*/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED
   python3 -m pip install "${base_python_pkgs[@]}" $*
 }
 
 install_python_packages() {
+  rm -f /usr/lib/python3.*/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED
   python3 -m pip install "${base_python_pkgs[@]}" "${python_pkgs[@]}" $*
 }