diff --git a/install_puppet.sh b/install_puppet.sh
index decc648c4e..f99388ebe9 100755
--- a/install_puppet.sh
+++ b/install_puppet.sh
@@ -232,11 +232,6 @@ EOF
         fi
         dpkg -i $puppet_deb
         rm $puppet_deb
-
-        # ansible also requires python2 on the host to run correctly.
-        # Make sure we have it, as some images come without it
-        DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get --option 'Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold' \
-            --assume-yes install python-minimal
     fi;
 
     apt-get update
@@ -329,6 +324,16 @@ function setup_pip {
     pip install -U setuptools
 }
 
+# Need to install python2 early as pip and ansible need it and it
+# isn't necessarily previously installed on newer Ubuntu releases.
+if is_ubuntu; then
+    if ! which python > /dev/null 2<&1 ; then
+        DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get update
+        DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get --option 'Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold' \
+            --assume-yes install -y --force-yes python-minimal
+    fi
+fi
+
 if $SETUP_PIP; then
     setup_pip
 fi