diff --git a/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/Dockerfile b/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/Dockerfile
index 990a8f6b..dfc76ea6 100644
--- a/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/Dockerfile
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ RUN if [ -d "/tmp/pulsar/cpp-client" ]; then mv /tmp/pulsar/cpp-client /pulsar/c
 RUN apt-get update \
      && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y python3 python3-dev python3-setuptools python3-yaml python3-kazoo \
                  libncursesw5-dev libssl-dev libsqlite3-dev tk-dev libgdbm-dev libc6-dev libbz2-dev curl ca-certificates\
-     && apt-get clean autoclean && apt-get autoremove --yes && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+     && apt-get clean autoclean && apt-get autoremove --yes && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
+     && mv /usr/lib/python3.12/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED  /usr/lib/python3.12/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED.old
 
 RUN mkdir -p /etc/pki/tls/certs && cp /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt
 
diff --git a/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/pulsarctl.Dockerfile b/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/pulsarctl.Dockerfile
index c1a8b893..b68de623 100644
--- a/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/pulsarctl.Dockerfile
+++ b/images/pulsar-functions-python-runner/pulsarctl.Dockerfile
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ RUN apt-get update \
      && mkdir -p /etc/pki/tls/certs && cp /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt \
      && update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3 10 \
      && curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py \
+     && mv /usr/lib/python3.12/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED  /usr/lib/python3.12/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED.old \
      && python3 get-pip.py && pip3 install --upgrade pip
 
 RUN if [ -d "/pulsar/cpp-client" ]; then apt-get update \