diff --git a/roles/dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml b/roles/dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml
index 18ec03672..98fde15ad 100644
--- a/roles/dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 dstat_graph_cache_path: /opt/cache/dstat_graph
 dstat_graph_download_path: /tmp/dstat_graph
 dstat_data_path: "{{ ansible_user_dir }}/zuul-output/logs/dstat.csv"
+# only for gate testing to make sure we pull the latest
+dstat_graph_cache_ignore: false
diff --git a/roles/dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml
index 4a0a1ea55..2f6399ed3 100644
--- a/roles/dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -4,12 +4,16 @@
   register: dstat_cache
 
 - name: Set dstat_graph path
-  when: dstat_cache.stat.exists
+  when: >
+      dstat_cache.stat.exists and not
+      dstat_graph_cache_ignore
   set_fact:
     dstat_path: "{{ dstat_graph_cache_path }}"
 
 - name: Set dstat_graph path
-  when: not dstat_cache.stat.exists
+  when: >
+      not dstat_cache.stat.exists or
+      dstat_graph_cache_ignore
   set_fact:
     dstat_path: "{{ dstat_graph_download_path }}"
 
diff --git a/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml b/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml
index 119d3b070..ca6fe1c33 100644
--- a/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
 dstat_graph_cache_path: /opt/cache/dstat_graph
 dstat_graph_download_path: /tmp/dstat_graph
+
+# only for gate testing to make sure we pull the latest
+dstat_graph_cache_ignore: false
diff --git a/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml
index 77c68f3b5..ad4edd30f 100644
--- a/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/ensure-dstat-graph/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -4,8 +4,17 @@
   register: dstat_cache
 
 - name: Clone dstat_graph
-  when: not dstat_cache.stat.exists
+  when: >
+      not dstat_cache.stat.exists or
+      dstat_graph_cache_ignore
   git:
-    repo: https://github.com/Dabz/dstat_graph
+    # NOTE(ianw) 2021-10-22 : this project hasn't had an update in 4
+    # years ...  it relies on https://github.com/novus/nvd3 which has
+    # never been updated for D3 >v3 (which is currently up to 7).
+    # This update is far from perfect but converts the non-graph bits
+    # to current boostrap and fixes some display issues with
+    # pcp-dstat.  Use this while we see if the original upstream have
+    # interest in it any more.
+    repo: https://github.com/ianw/dstat_graph
     dest: "{{ dstat_graph_download_path }}"
-    version: c99e5d201ed924a816d99056f8f7d320d625b3ef
+    version: bootstrap5
diff --git a/test-playbooks/dstat-graph.yaml b/test-playbooks/dstat-graph.yaml
index ed7f28083..b38a3d810 100644
--- a/test-playbooks/dstat-graph.yaml
+++ b/test-playbooks/dstat-graph.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 - hosts: all
   roles:
-    - ensure-dstat-graph
+    - role: ensure-dstat-graph
+      vars:
+        dstat_graph_cache_ignore: true
     - run-dstat
 
 # Simulate workload
@@ -14,4 +16,7 @@
 
 - hosts: all
   roles:
-    - dstat-graph
+    - role: dstat-graph
+      vars:
+        dstat_graph_cache_ignore: true
+