diff --git a/IM/ConfManager.py b/IM/ConfManager.py
index 8c1ec6b8..36d7ed83 100644
--- a/IM/ConfManager.py
+++ b/IM/ConfManager.py
@@ -1498,7 +1498,7 @@ def configure_ansible(self, ssh, tmp_dir, ansible_version=None):
             if ansible_version_env:
                 # restore original value
                 os.environ['ANSIBLE_VERSION'] = ansible_version_env
-            else:
+            elif 'ANSIBLE_VERSION' in os.environ:
                 del os.environ['ANSIBLE_VERSION']
 
             if not success: