diff --git a/gitlab/before_build.sh b/gitlab/before_build.sh
index e2a1cc57b69fcd378834ceae8050a40e68a370b1..18a5f7792d9d8ea3596d0f22aac62074e64afe4d 100755
--- a/gitlab/before_build.sh
+++ b/gitlab/before_build.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ check_env WHEELS_SERVER
 # Readies the virtualenv to use for installation
 if [ ! -d ${PREFIX} ]; then
   log_info "Creating virtualenv installation at ${PREFIX}..."
-  run_cmd ${BOB_PREFIX_PATH}/bin/virtualenv --system-site-packages ${PREFIX}
+  run_cmd_ld ${BOB_PREFIX_PATH}/bin/virtualenv --system-site-packages ${PREFIX}
+  fix_venv
 else
   log_warn "Prefix directory ${PREFIX} exists, not re-installing..."
 fi
diff --git a/gitlab/functions.sh b/gitlab/functions.sh
index f66afab0808b6d70c04417c783d0fe42bcd49258..0b360ac4364fb05991d2e840e6267d25962b2e1f 100644
--- a/gitlab/functions.sh
+++ b/gitlab/functions.sh
@@ -104,6 +104,24 @@ EOT
 }
 
 
+# Fixes the python prompt by setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH permanently
+fix_venv() {
+
+  local py=${PREFIX}/bin/python
+
+  case ${PYVER} in
+    py3*) py=${py}3 ;;
+  esac
+
+  mv ${py} ${py}.orig
+  cat <<EOT >> ${py}
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${BOB_PREFIX_PATH}/lib ${py}.orig
+EOT
+  run_cmd chmod 755 ${py}
+}
+
+
 # Uploads a file to our intranet location via curl
 doc_upload() {
   log_info "curl: ${1} -> ${DOCSERVER}/${2}..."