diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/prepare_libvirt.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/prepare_libvirt.yml
index 9364c7a54..23e411b8e 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/prepare_libvirt.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/prepare_libvirt.yml
@@ -135,3 +135,4 @@
   pip:
     name: virtualbmc
     extra_args: "-c {{ upper_constraints_file }}"
+    virtualenv: "{{ enable_venv | bool | ternary(bifrost_venv_dir, omit) }}"