diff --git a/scripts/bootstrap-ansible.sh b/scripts/bootstrap-ansible.sh
index fa59ee7f73..ebae4e9c7d 100755
--- a/scripts/bootstrap-ansible.sh
+++ b/scripts/bootstrap-ansible.sh
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ case ${DISTRO_ID} in
           python-pyasn1 pyOpenSSL python-ndg_httpsclient \
           python-netaddr python-prettytable python-crypto PyYAML \
           python-virtualenv
-          VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS=""
         ;;
     ubuntu)
         apt-get update
@@ -98,10 +97,15 @@ export UPPER_CONSTRAINTS_FILE=${UPPER_CONSTRAINTS_FILE:-"$UPPER_CONSTRAINTS_PROT
 # Figure out the right virtualenv command and options
 if [[ ${PYTHON_VERSION} =~ ^3 ]]; then
   VIRTUALENV_COMMAND="python3 -m venv"
-  VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS=${VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS:-"--copies"}
+  VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS="--copies"
 else
   VIRTUALENV_COMMAND="virtualenv --python=${PYTHON_EXEC_PATH}"
-  VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS=${VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS:-"--always-copy"}
+  VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS="--always-copy"
+fi
+
+# Trying to use the copy option on CentOS fails miserably, so we override it.
+if [[ "${DISTRO_ID}" == "centos" ]] || [[ "${DISTRO_ID}" == "rhel" ]]; then
+  VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS=""
 fi
 
 # Create a Virtualenv for the Ansible runtime
diff --git a/scripts/gate-check-commit.sh b/scripts/gate-check-commit.sh
index ab5a5c9ed3..fada19bb37 100755
--- a/scripts/gate-check-commit.sh
+++ b/scripts/gate-check-commit.sh
@@ -186,7 +186,6 @@ if [[ "${ACTION}" == "upgrade" ]]; then
     # requirements to be installed.
     unset ANSIBLE_PACKAGE
     unset UPPER_CONSTRAINTS_FILE
-    unset VIRTUALENV_OPTIONS
 
     # Kick off the data plane tester
     bash ${OSA_CLONE_DIR}/tests/data-plane-test.sh &> /var/log/data-plane-error.log &