diff --git a/.github/workflows/task.yml b/.github/workflows/task.yml
index 778b7369..8a551fe9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/task.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/task.yml
@@ -106,6 +106,13 @@ jobs:
             qemu-user-static
             xvfb
 
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python_version || '3.10' }}
+        if: "!contains(matrix.shell, 'wsl')"
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          cache: pip
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.python_version || '3.10' }}
+
       - name: Enable caching
         if: "!contains(matrix.shell, 'wsl')"
         uses: actions/cache@v4
diff --git a/tools/test-setup.sh b/tools/test-setup.sh
index afbe35c7..bbf2c044 100755
--- a/tools/test-setup.sh
+++ b/tools/test-setup.sh
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ if [[ -f "/usr/bin/apt-get" ]]; then
             -o=Dpkg::Use-Pty=0 "${DEBS[@]}"
     fi
 fi
-python3 --version
+log notice Ensure python version is recent enough for using latest ansible-core
+python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.version_info[:2]); sys.exit(not sys.version_info[:2]>=(3, 10))"
 
 # Ensure that git is configured properly to allow unattended commits, something
 # that is needed by some tasks, like devel or deps.