diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index a51e0c5fc..e4b24a52b 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 env:
   CODECOV_TOKEN: adb3f22a-231a-4f7b-8ed4-7c6c56453cbe
   JULIA_NUM_THREADS: auto
+  PYTHON: ""
+  PYCALL_DEBUG_BUILD: yes
   
 steps:
   - label: "CI Buildkite"
@@ -11,12 +13,12 @@ steps:
       - JuliaCI/julia-test#v1: ~
       - JuliaCI/julia-coverage#v1:
           codecov: true
-    command: |
-      julia -e '
-        using Pkg
-        Pkg.add("QuantumSavory")
-        Pkg.build("QuantumSavory")
-        Pkg.test("QuantumSavory")
-        Pkg.add("BPGates")
-        Pkg.build("BPGates")
-        Pkg.test("BPGates")'
\ No newline at end of file
+#    command: |
+#      julia -e '
+#        using Pkg
+#        Pkg.add("QuantumSavory")
+#        Pkg.build("QuantumSavory")
+#        Pkg.test("QuantumSavory")
+#        Pkg.add("BPGates")
+#        Pkg.build("BPGates")
+#        Pkg.test("BPGates")'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml b/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml
index 5218fc733..34c65be0d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ name: Performance tracking
 on:
   pull_request:
 
+env:
+  PYTHON: ~
+
 jobs:
   performance-tracking:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-julia-nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-julia-nightly.yml
index 0a982e6e1..6c7e5fc2d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-julia-nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-julia-nightly.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ on:
     branches: [master, main]
     tags: ["*"]
   pull_request:
+env:
+  PYTHON: ~
 jobs:
   test:
     name: Julia ${{ matrix.version }} - t=${{ matrix.threads }} - jet=${{ matrix.jet }} - ${{ matrix.os }} - ${{ matrix.arch }} - ${{ github.event_name }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e16bb5bbe..ab8aa6cc3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ on:
     branches: [master, main]
     tags: ["*"]
   pull_request:
+env:
+  PYTHON: ~
 jobs:
   test:
     name: Julia ${{ matrix.version }} - t=${{ matrix.threads }} - ${{ matrix.os }} - ${{ matrix.arch }} - ${{ github.event_name }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/downgrade.yml b/.github/workflows/downgrade.yml
index 6dfc2377d..761a4961a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/downgrade.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/downgrade.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ on:
     branches: [master, main]
     paths-ignore:
       - 'docs/**'
+env:
+  PYTHON: ~
 jobs:
   test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 4c2c03cda..c031eb8cd 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ macro doset(descr)
 end
 
 println("Starting tests with $(Threads.nthreads()) threads out of `Sys.CPU_THREADS = $(Sys.CPU_THREADS)`...")
+println("ENV[\"PYTHON\"] = \"$(get(ENV,"PYTHON",nothing))\"")
 
 # in order to run the gpu tests automatically set GPU_TESTS to true in the .env file
 if ENV["GPU_TESTS"] == "true"