diff --git a/python/drydock_provisioner/__init__.py b/python/drydock_provisioner/__init__.py
index f10bbbf6..2f6229aa 100644
--- a/python/drydock_provisioner/__init__.py
+++ b/python/drydock_provisioner/__init__.py
@@ -11,3 +11,5 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+
+import pylibyaml  # noqa: F401  # patch pyyaml to use libyaml bindings
diff --git a/python/requirements-direct.txt b/python/requirements-direct.txt
index 38157ac0..3fe51656 100644
--- a/python/requirements-direct.txt
+++ b/python/requirements-direct.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-PyYAML==5.1
+pylibyaml~=0.1
+PyYAML~=5.3.1
 pyghmi==1.0.18
 netaddr
 falcon
diff --git a/python/requirements-lock.txt b/python/requirements-lock.txt
index b48d61c8..863fda28 100644
--- a/python/requirements-lock.txt
+++ b/python/requirements-lock.txt
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ PTable==0.9.2
 pycadf==2.8.0
 pycrypto==2.6.1
 pyghmi==1.0.18
+pylibyaml==0.1.0
 pymongo==3.6.1
 pyparsing==2.2.1
 python-dateutil==2.8.1
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ python-editor==1.0.3
 python-keystoneclient==3.22.0
 python-mimeparse==1.6.0
 pytz==2018.5
-PyYAML==5.1
+PyYAML==5.3.1
 redfish==2.0.1
 repoze.lru==0.7
 requests==2.22.0
diff --git a/python/tests/unit/test_cli_task.py b/python/tests/unit/test_cli_task.py
index 7065256f..736013f5 100644
--- a/python/tests/unit/test_cli_task.py
+++ b/python/tests/unit/test_cli_task.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+import pylibyaml  # noqa: F401  # patch pyyaml to use libyaml bindings
 import yaml
 import pytest
 
diff --git a/python/tests/unit/test_schema_validation.py b/python/tests/unit/test_schema_validation.py
index faf5d3b7..2959a728 100644
--- a/python/tests/unit/test_schema_validation.py
+++ b/python/tests/unit/test_schema_validation.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import pylibyaml  # noqa: F401  # patch pyyaml to use libyaml bindings
 import yaml
 import jsonschema
 import pkg_resources