diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index e176182b14ab..eca1e3b67956 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ jobs:
         python-version: ${{ matrix.python }}
         architecture: ${{ matrix.arch }}
     - name: install tox
-      run: pip install --upgrade 'setuptools!=50' 'virtualenv<20' tox==3.20.1
+      run: pip install --upgrade 'setuptools!=50' 'virtualenv<16.7.11' tox==3.20.1
     - name: setup tox environment
       run: tox -e ${{ matrix.toxenv }} --notest
     - name: test
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index da5bc67cf6ba..d7dbcce5ab91 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ jobs:
 install:
 # pip 21.0 no longer works on Python 3.5
 - pip install -U pip==20.3.4 setuptools
-- pip install -U 'virtualenv<20'
+- pip install -U 'virtualenv<16.7.11'
 - pip install -U tox==3.20.1
 - python2 -m pip install --user -U typing
 - tox --notest
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index b5b9da8b0a24..d80d127cc440 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,6 @@ pytest-forked>=1.3.0,<2.0.0
 pytest-cov>=2.10.0,<3.0.0
 typing>=3.5.2; python_version < '3.5'
 py>=1.5.2
-virtualenv<20
+virtualenv<16.7.11
 setuptools!=50
 importlib-metadata==0.20