diff --git a/dev/functions b/dev/functions
index 7dbccf53b..7833a97f9 100644
--- a/dev/functions
+++ b/dev/functions
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ function install_dependencies {
         exit 1
     else
         sudo apt update
-        sudo apt install -y python3-dev python3-virtualenv gcc git libffi-dev
+        sudo apt install -y python-is-python3 python3-dev python3-virtualenv gcc git libffi-dev
     fi
 }
 
diff --git a/doc/source/installation.rst b/doc/source/installation.rst
index 247cae68e..befafc3cc 100644
--- a/doc/source/installation.rst
+++ b/doc/source/installation.rst
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ On Ubuntu::
 
     $ apt install -y git
 
+On Ubuntu, ensure that /usr/bin/python points to a Python 3 interpreter::
+
+    $ apt install -y python-is-python3
+
 Local directory structure
 =========================