diff --git a/zuul.d/playbooks/pre-gate-cleanup.yml b/zuul.d/playbooks/pre-gate-cleanup.yml
index 4126ce03..974ac8e6 100644
--- a/zuul.d/playbooks/pre-gate-cleanup.yml
+++ b/zuul.d/playbooks/pre-gate-cleanup.yml
@@ -18,9 +18,6 @@
   become: yes
   become_user: root
   tasks:
-    - name: Gather variables for each operating system
-      include_vars: "{{ ansible_os_family | lower }}.yml"
-
     - name: Switch apt source from https to http
       replace:
         path: /etc/apt/sources.list
@@ -29,45 +26,6 @@
       when:
         - ansible_distribution_release in ['bionic', 'focal']
 
-    - name: Remove known problem distro packages
-      package:
-        name: "{{ gate_packages_remove }}"
-        state: absent
-
-    - name: Check if pip2 is installed
-      command: 'which pip2'
-      register: pip2_installed
-      changed_when: false
-      failed_when: pip2_installed.rc > 1
-
-    - name: Check if pip3 is installed
-      command: 'which pip3'
-      register: pip3_installed
-      changed_when: false
-      failed_when: pip3_installed.rc > 1
-
-    - name: Remove known problem pip packages
-      pip:
-        executable: "{{ item }}"
-        name:
-          - virtualenv
-          - tox
-          - appdirs
-          - backports
-          - contextlib2
-          - distlib
-          - filelock
-          - importlib_metadata
-          - importlib_resources
-          - six
-          - zipp
-        state: absent
-      register: pip_remove
-      when: (pip2_installed.rc == 0) or (pip3_installed.rc == 0)
-      with_items:
-        - "{{ (pip2_installed.rc == 0) | ternary('pip2', []) }}"
-        - "{{ (pip3_installed.rc == 0) | ternary('pip3', []) }}"
-
     - name: Remove package blacklist for yum/dnf
       lineinfile:
         dest: "{{ (ansible_pkg_mgr == 'dnf') | ternary('/etc/dnf/dnf.conf', '/etc/yum.conf') }}"
diff --git a/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/debian.yml b/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/debian.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index ea28458b..00000000
--- a/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/debian.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
----
-# Copyright 2020, VEXXHOST, Inc.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-gate_packages_remove:
-  - python-virtualenv
-  - python3-virtualenv
-  - virtualenv
diff --git a/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/redhat.yml b/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/redhat.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index f08f68b4..00000000
--- a/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/redhat.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
----
-# Copyright 2020, VEXXHOST, Inc.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-gate_packages_remove:
-  - python3-virtualenv
-  - python-virtualenv
diff --git a/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/suse.yml b/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/suse.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 121e0cab..00000000
--- a/zuul.d/playbooks/vars/suse.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
----
-# Copyright 2020, VEXXHOST, Inc.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-gate_packages_remove:
-  - python-virtualenv
-  - python2-virtualenv