diff --git a/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/converge.yml b/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/converge.yml
index 3b78cf000..80f3e95c1 100644
--- a/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/converge.yml
+++ b/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/converge.yml
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@
     - name: Install pymongo
       pip:
         name: pymongo
-      when:
-        - ansible_hostname != "debian12"
+        break_system_packages: true  # naughty
 
     - name: Enable mongo auth
       include_role:
diff --git a/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/prepare.yml b/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/prepare.yml
index e30888dbb..1a8537c81 100644
--- a/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/prepare.yml
+++ b/roles/mongodb_auth/molecule/default/prepare.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
       - python3-packaging
     debian_packages:
       - net-tools
-      - python3-pymongo
   tasks:
 
   - name: Ensure epel is available