diff --git a/playbooks/nox/pre27.yaml b/playbooks/nox/pre27.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ef7a8f460
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/nox/pre27.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+- hosts: all
+  tasks:
+    - name: Downgrade virtualenv for python2.7 support
+      # Assume pip is installed in the same relative path as nox
+      # and use that to downgrade virtualenv to a version python2.7 supports.
+      command: "{{ nox_executable | dirname }}/pip install -U virtualenv<20.22.0"
diff --git a/zuul.d/python-jobs.yaml b/zuul.d/python-jobs.yaml
index 0957c8c4e..6fcf4f9d0 100644
--- a/zuul.d/python-jobs.yaml
+++ b/zuul.d/python-jobs.yaml
@@ -403,6 +403,7 @@
       Run unit tests for a Python project under cPython version 2.7.
 
       Uses nox with the ``test`` keyword forcing python 2.7.
+    pre-run: playbooks/nox/pre27.yaml
     vars:
       nox_keyword: tests
       nox_force_python: "2.7"