diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml b/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml
index ecac3ec50c..544385f5be 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ crash-test-debian:
     IMAGE: debian-amd64
   script:
     - cd build
-    - scripts/device-crash-test -q ./qemu-system-i386
+    - make check-venv
+    - tests/venv/bin/python3 scripts/device-crash-test -q ./qemu-system-i386
 
 build-system-fedora:
   extends: .native_build_job_template
@@ -155,8 +156,9 @@ crash-test-fedora:
     IMAGE: fedora
   script:
     - cd build
-    - scripts/device-crash-test -q ./qemu-system-ppc
-    - scripts/device-crash-test -q ./qemu-system-riscv32
+    - make check-venv
+    - tests/venv/bin/python3 scripts/device-crash-test -q ./qemu-system-ppc
+    - tests/venv/bin/python3 scripts/device-crash-test -q ./qemu-system-riscv32
 
 build-system-centos:
   extends: .native_build_job_template
diff --git a/scripts/device-crash-test b/scripts/device-crash-test
index a203b3fdea..73bcb98693 100755
--- a/scripts/device-crash-test
+++ b/scripts/device-crash-test
@@ -33,10 +33,18 @@ import re
 import random
 import argparse
 from itertools import chain
+from pathlib import Path
 
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'python'))
-from qemu.machine import QEMUMachine
-from qemu.qmp import ConnectError
+try:
+    from qemu.machine import QEMUMachine
+    from qemu.qmp import ConnectError
+except ModuleNotFoundError as exc:
+    path = Path(__file__).resolve()
+    print(f"Module '{exc.name}' not found.")
+    print("  Try 'make check-venv' from your build directory,")
+    print("  and then one way to run this script is like so:")
+    print(f'  > $builddir/tests/venv/bin/python3 "{path}"')
+    sys.exit(1)
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('device-crash-test')
 dbg = logger.debug