diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/ansible-test-setuptools-constraint.yml b/changelogs/fragments/ansible-test-setuptools-constraint.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..8fb0d0551f17bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/ansible-test-setuptools-constraint.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+    - ansible-test no longer tries to install ``setuptools`` 45+ on Python 2.x since those versions are unsupported
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/inventory_kubevirt_conformance/constraints.txt b/test/integration/targets/inventory_kubevirt_conformance/constraints.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..c44f44e9dee5d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/inventory_kubevirt_conformance/constraints.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+setuptools < 45 ; python_version <= '2.7' # setuptools 45 and later require python 3.5 or later
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/inventory_kubevirt_conformance/runme.sh b/test/integration/targets/inventory_kubevirt_conformance/runme.sh
index 390f80cb547cb9..47e0fb7162a8a6 100755
--- a/test/integration/targets/inventory_kubevirt_conformance/runme.sh
+++ b/test/integration/targets/inventory_kubevirt_conformance/runme.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ fi
 set -eux
 
 source virtualenv.sh
-pip install openshift
+pip install openshift -c constraints.txt
 
 ./server.py &
 
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/pip/tasks/pip.yml b/test/integration/targets/pip/tasks/pip.yml
index 3ff453289ca5e7..0a24ad1ccd30a8 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/pip/tasks/pip.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/pip/tasks/pip.yml
@@ -504,7 +504,11 @@
 
   - name: install distribute in the virtualenv
     pip:
-      name: distribute
+      # using -c for constraints is not supported as long as tests are executed using the centos6 container
+      # since the pip version in the venv is not upgraded and is too old (6.0.8)
+      name:
+        - distribute
+        - setuptools<45  # setuptools 45 and later require python 3.5 or later
       virtualenv: "{{ output_dir }}/pipenv"
       state: present
 
diff --git a/test/runner/requirements/constraints.txt b/test/runner/requirements/constraints.txt
index 5b8473d27abaa3..9e318a28d3da52 100644
--- a/test/runner/requirements/constraints.txt
+++ b/test/runner/requirements/constraints.txt
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ lxml < 4.3.0 ; python_version < '2.7' # lxml 4.3.0 and later require python 2.7
 pyvmomi < 6.0.0 ; python_version < '2.7' # pyvmomi 6.0.0 and later require python 2.7 or later
 pyone == 1.1.9 # newer versions do not pass current integration tests
 botocore >= 1.10.0 # adds support for the following AWS services: secretsmanager, fms, and acm-pca
+setuptools < 45 ; python_version <= '2.7' # setuptools 45 and later require python 3.5 or later
 
 # freeze pylint and its requirements for consistent test results
 astroid == 2.2.5