diff --git a/plugins/python-build/bin/pyenv-install b/plugins/python-build/bin/pyenv-install
index 6705d4bc..844b47ec 100755
--- a/plugins/python-build/bin/pyenv-install
+++ b/plugins/python-build/bin/pyenv-install
@@ -207,8 +207,12 @@ if [ -z "${PYENV_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION}" ]; then
     else
       for version in $(pyenv-versions --bare | sort -r); do
         if [[ "${version}" == "2.7"* ]]; then
-          PYENV_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION="$version"
-          break
+          if [ -f "$(pyenv-prefix "${version}")/bin/activate" ]; then
+            : # avoid choosing virtualenv since it may not have some necessary modules (e.g. cffi, pycparser)
+          else
+            PYENV_BOOTSTRAP_VERSION="$version"
+            break
+          fi
         fi
       done
     fi