diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 680949c2b5..64fb03c875 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -38,14 +38,16 @@ commands:
     steps:
       - run:
           command: |
+            export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
             sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libssh-dev
 
   install-deps:
     steps:
       - run:
           command: |
-            sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libpsl-dev libbrotli-dev libzstd-dev zlib1g-dev python3-pip libpsl-dev
-            sudo python3 -m pip --disable-pip-version-check --no-input --no-cache-dir install --progress-bar off --prefer-binary -r tests/requirements.txt
+            sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libpsl-dev libbrotli-dev libzstd-dev zlib1g-dev python3-pip
+            python3 -m venv ~/venv
+            ~/venv/bin/pip --disable-pip-version-check --no-input --no-cache-dir install --progress-bar off --prefer-binary -r tests/requirements.txt
 
   configure:
     steps:
@@ -95,11 +97,15 @@ commands:
   build:
     steps:
       - run: make -j3 V=1
+      - run: src/curl --disable --version
       - run: make -j3 V=1 examples
 
   test:
     steps:
-      - run: make -j3 V=1 test-ci TFLAGS='-j14'
+      - run:
+          command: |
+            source ~/venv/bin/activate
+            make -j3 V=1 test-ci TFLAGS='-j14'
 
 executors:
   ubuntu: