diff --git a/zuul.d/jobs.yaml b/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
index 9a388b7b5e..3bfaed18f4 100644
--- a/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
+++ b/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@
     pre-run: playbooks/zuul-tarball/pre.yaml
     run: playbooks/zuul-tarball/run.yaml
     post-run: playbooks/python-branch-tarball/post.yaml
+    vars:
+      node_version: 10
 
 - job:
     name: release-zuul-python