diff --git a/playbooks/roles/install-docker/tasks/Ubuntu.noble.yaml b/playbooks/roles/install-docker/tasks/Ubuntu.noble.yaml
index ffc22b1b4b..b520e090a8 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/install-docker/tasks/Ubuntu.noble.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/install-docker/tasks/Ubuntu.noble.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
   apt:
     name:
       - docker-compose-v2
+      # "new" releases of docker-compose-v2 don't depend on this
+      # but our playbooks rely on it being there.
+      - docker.io
       - podman
       - uidmap
       - slirp4netns
@@ -25,7 +28,7 @@
     state: present
 
 - name: Disable docker daemon service
-  # docker-compose-v2 depends on the docker service. Disable it.
+  # We want /usr/bin/docker but don't need or want the docker service
   become: true
   service:
     name: docker
@@ -33,7 +36,7 @@
     enabled: false
 
 - name: Disable docker socket service
-  # docker-compose-v2 depends on the docker service. Disable it.
+  # We want /usr/bin/docker but don't need or want the docker socket
   become: true
   service:
     name: docker.socket