diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 36a690a5..c51f1550 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -78,9 +78,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         run: |
           # pygobject is an optional dependency for kivy that's not in requirements
-          "${{ env.PYTHON }}" -m pip install --upgrade pip virtualenv PyGObject setuptools
+          # charset-normalizer was somehow incomplete in the github runner
           "${{ env.PYTHON }}" -m venv venv
           source venv/bin/activate
+          "${{ env.PYTHON }}" -m pip install --upgrade pip PyGObject setuptools charset-normalizer
           pip install -r requirements.txt
           python setup.py build_exe --yes bdist_appimage --yes
           echo -e "setup.py build output:\n `ls build`"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index fa8e80df..e9559f78 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -65,9 +65,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         run: |
           # pygobject is an optional dependency for kivy that's not in requirements
-          "${{ env.PYTHON }}" -m pip install --upgrade pip virtualenv PyGObject setuptools
+          # charset-normalizer was somehow incomplete in the github runner
           "${{ env.PYTHON }}" -m venv venv
           source venv/bin/activate
+          "${{ env.PYTHON }}" -m pip install --upgrade pip PyGObject setuptools charset-normalizer
           pip install -r requirements.txt
           python setup.py build --yes bdist_appimage --yes
           echo -e "setup.py build output:\n `ls build`"