diff --git a/.github/workflows/main_unit_tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/main_unit_tests.yaml
index 3804edbd..360b1464 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main_unit_tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main_unit_tests.yaml
@@ -42,11 +42,15 @@ jobs:
             submodules: 'recursive'
             path: pace/${{inputs.component_name}}
 
+        - name: Print versions
+          run: |
+            python --version
+            pip --version
+
         - name: install packages
           if:  ${{ ! inputs.component_trigger }}
           run: |
             cd ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/pace
-            pip3 install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
             pip3 install -r requirements_dev.txt -c constraints.txt
 
         - name: "External trigger: Install packages"
@@ -55,7 +59,6 @@ jobs:
           # to avoid false positives in package dependency resolution.
           run: |
             cd ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/pace
-            pip3 install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
             pip3 install -r requirements_dev.txt
 
         - name: prepare input files