diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 26a7b79..e2ffdd9 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ Shade is a simple client library for operating OpenStack clouds.
 Requirements
 ------------
 
+* pip3 to be installed if using shade_install_method: (git|pip)
+
 See `bindep.txt` for role dependencies.
 
 Packages
diff --git a/tasks/install.yaml b/tasks/install.yaml
index 48758bd..9dc14eb 100644
--- a/tasks/install.yaml
+++ b/tasks/install.yaml
@@ -25,4 +25,12 @@
   with_items: "{{ shade_build_depends }}"
   when: shade_install_method == 'git' or shade_install_method == 'pip'
 
+- name: Define shade_pip_executable if needed.
+  set_fact:
+    shade_pip_executable: pip3
+  when:
+    - shade_install_method == 'git' or shade_install_method == 'pip'
+    - shade_pip_virtualenv_python is not defined
+    - shade_pip_executable is not defined
+
 - include: "install/{{ shade_install_method }}.yaml"
diff --git a/vars/Debian.yaml b/vars/Debian.yaml
index 86ae7c3..e42b763 100644
--- a/vars/Debian.yaml
+++ b/vars/Debian.yaml
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@
 __shade_build_depends:
   - gcc
   - libssl-dev
-  - python-dev
+  - python3-dev
diff --git a/vars/RedHat.yaml b/vars/RedHat.yaml
index 6928dec..4e56423 100644
--- a/vars/RedHat.yaml
+++ b/vars/RedHat.yaml
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@
 __shade_build_depends:
   - gcc-c++
   - openssl-devel
-  - python-devel
+  - python3-devel