diff --git a/scripts/ansible b/scripts/ansible
index 95d8fb5b1..7966480a0 100755
--- a/scripts/ansible
+++ b/scripts/ansible
@@ -223,9 +223,15 @@ if [[ $(dpkg --print-architecture) == "i386" ]] && apt-cache show ansible-core >
     # (DEBIAN 12+ ETC) avoids #3547 rust/wheels/cryptography compiling mess!
     $APT_PATH/apt -y install ansible-core    # Bookworm ~= ansible-core 2.14.3
     echo -e "\n\nIIAB requires these ~4 Ansible Collections: (we upgrade them here if possible!)\n"
+    cat > ansible.cfg << EOF
+'[defaults]'
+'interpreter_python=/usr/bin/python3' >> $CWD/ansible.cfg
+EOF
+    git commit -a -m"altering ansible.cfg for deb install"
     ansible-galaxy collection install --force-with-deps \
                -r /opt/iiab/iiab/collections.yml \
                -p /usr/share/ansible/collections
+
 # 2021-02-24: 'ansible-galaxy collection list' lists those installed. (#2659)
 # 2020-11-28: The ~3 Ansible Collections used by IIAB (~37MB) once lived here:
 #    /root/.ansible/collections/ansible_collections