diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index beffd6a..092ce1b 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -86,7 +86,10 @@ jobs:
         run: pnpm -C src/labd run db:generate
 
       - name: Install test validators (ubuntu-autoinstall parses YAML via python, kickstart.test runs ksvalidator)
-        run: sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq python3-yaml pykickstart
+        # pykickstart is not in the runner image's apt sources -- pip it is.
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq python3-yaml python3-pip
+          sudo pip3 install --quiet --break-system-packages pykickstart
 
       - name: Build (needed by completions check)
         run: pnpm build