diff --git a/common/deploy-steps.j2 b/common/deploy-steps.j2
index 4c50f06b12..7ba46863f4 100644
--- a/common/deploy-steps.j2
+++ b/common/deploy-steps.j2
@@ -816,6 +816,9 @@ outputs:
               any_errors_fatal: yes
               become: false
               vars:
+                # Explicit ansible_python_interpreter to allow connecting
+                # to different OS releases (EL7/8) while using delegate_to.
+                ansible_python_interpreter: /usr/libexec/platform-python
                 bootstrap_server_id: BOOTSTRAP_SERVER_ID
                 deploy_identifier: DEPLOY_IDENTIFIER
                 enable_debug: ENABLE_DEBUG
@@ -844,6 +847,9 @@ outputs:
               any_errors_fatal: yes
               become: false
               vars:
+                # Explicit ansible_python_interpreter to allow connecting
+                # to different OS releases (EL7/8) while using delegate_to.
+                ansible_python_interpreter: /usr/libexec/platform-python
                 bootstrap_server_id: BOOTSTRAP_SERVER_ID
                 deploy_identifier: DEPLOY_IDENTIFIER
                 enable_debug: ENABLE_DEBUG