diff --git a/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/host_profiles.py b/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/host_profiles.py
index 0a08d68f18d..e3aeeeebbc8 100644
--- a/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/host_profiles.py
+++ b/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/host_profiles.py
@@ -209,11 +209,7 @@ class PosixProfile(HostProfile[TPosixConfig], metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
             python = self.config.python
 
             if isinstance(python, VirtualPythonConfig):
-                python = VirtualPythonConfig(
-                    version=python.version,
-                    system_site_packages=python.system_site_packages,
-                    path=os.path.join(get_virtual_python(self.args, python), 'bin', 'python'),
-                )
+                python = get_virtual_python(self.args, python)
 
             self.state['python'] = python
 
diff --git a/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/venv.py b/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/venv.py
index fb8638f2fa4..9c48633d21f 100644
--- a/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/venv.py
+++ b/test/lib/ansible_test/_internal/venv.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ from .python_requirements import (
 def get_virtual_python(
         args,  # type: EnvironmentConfig
         python,  # type: VirtualPythonConfig
-):
+):  # type: (...) -> VirtualPythonConfig
     """Create a virtual environment for the given Python and return the path to its root."""
     if python.system_site_packages:
         suffix = '-ssp'
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ def get_virtual_python(
     virtual_environment_path = os.path.join(ResultType.TMP.path, 'delegation', f'python{python.version}{suffix}')
     virtual_environment_marker = os.path.join(virtual_environment_path, 'marker.txt')
 
+    virtual_environment_python = VirtualPythonConfig(
+        version=python.version,
+        path=os.path.join(virtual_environment_path, 'bin', 'python'),
+        system_site_packages=python.system_site_packages,
+    )
+
     if os.path.exists(virtual_environment_marker):
         display.info('Using existing Python %s virtual environment: %s' % (python.version, virtual_environment_path), verbosity=1)
     else:
@@ -60,11 +66,6 @@ def get_virtual_python(
         if not create_virtual_environment(args, python, virtual_environment_path, python.system_site_packages):
             raise ApplicationError(f'Python {python.version} does not provide virtual environment support.')
 
-        virtual_environment_python = VirtualPythonConfig(
-            version=python.version,
-            path=os.path.join(virtual_environment_path, 'bin', 'python'),
-        )
-
         commands = collect_bootstrap(virtual_environment_python)
 
         run_pip(args, virtual_environment_python, commands, None)  # get_virtual_python()
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ def get_virtual_python(
     # touch the marker to keep track of when the virtualenv was last used
     pathlib.Path(virtual_environment_marker).touch()
 
-    return virtual_environment_path
+    return virtual_environment_python
 
 
 def create_virtual_environment(args,  # type: EnvironmentConfig