diff --git a/utils/run-tests.sh b/utils/run-tests.sh
index d2892def4e..042a47bc29 100755
--- a/utils/run-tests.sh
+++ b/utils/run-tests.sh
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ positional arguments:
 
 optional arguments:
   -h              display this message and exit
+  -a              Do not install Ansible, use host's provided one.
+  -A SEED.GROUP   Replicate Azure's test group and seed (seed is YYYYMMDD)
   -c CONTAINER    use container CONTAINER to run tests
   -K              keep container, even if tests succeed
   -l              list available images
@@ -38,7 +40,6 @@ optional arguments:
   -m MEMORY       container memory, in GiB (default: 3)
   -s TEST_SUITE   run all playbooks for test suite, which is a directory
                   under ${WHITE}tests${RST}
-  -A SEED.GROUP   Replicate Azure's test group and seed (seed is YYYYMMDD)
   -v              Increase Ansible verbosity (can be used multiple times)
   -x              Stop on first error.
 EOF
@@ -54,8 +55,8 @@ STOP_CONTAINER="Y"
 STOP_VIRTUALENV="N"
 declare -a ENABLED_MODULES
 declare -a ENABLED_TESTS
-read -a ENABLED_MODULES <<< "${IPA_ENABLED_MODULES:-""}"
-read -a ENABLED_TESTS <<< "${IPA_ENABLED_MODULES:-""}"
+read -r -a ENABLED_MODULES <<< "${IPA_ENABLED_MODULES:-""}"
+read -r -a ENABLED_TESTS <<< "${IPA_ENABLED_MODULES:-""}"
 IMAGE_TAG="fedora-latest"
 scenario="freeipa-tests"
 MEMORY=3
@@ -64,15 +65,17 @@ SEED="$(date "+%Y%m%d")"
 GROUP=1
 SPLITS=0
 ANSIBLE_COLLECTIONS=${ANSIBLE_COLLECTIONS:-"${engine_collection}"}
+SKIP_ANSIBLE=""
 
 EXTRA_OPTIONS=""
 
 # Process command options
 
-while getopts ":hA:c:ei:Klm:s:vx" option
+while getopts ":haA:c:ei:Klm:s:vx" option
 do
     case "$option" in
         h) help && exit 0 ;;
+	a) SKIP_ANSIBLE="YES" ;;
         A)
             [ ${#ENABLED_MODULES[@]} -eq 0 ] || die -u "Can't use '-A' with '-s'"
             SEED="$(cut -d. -f1 <<< "${OPTARG}" | tr -d "-")"
@@ -133,7 +136,7 @@ log info "Installing dependencies from 'requirements-tests.txt'"
 pip install --upgrade -r "${TOPDIR}/requirements-tests.txt"
 
 # shellcheck disable=SC2119
-install_ansible
+[ -z "SKIP_ANSIBLE" ] || install_ansible
 
 # Ansible configuration
 export ANSIBLE_ROLES_PATH="${TOPDIR}/roles"
diff --git a/utils/shcontainer b/utils/shcontainer
index ff774243da..1ed23c797b 100644
--- a/utils/shcontainer
+++ b/utils/shcontainer
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ start_container() {
     # With docker on Ubuntu, it might take a couple of seconds
     # for the container to be available.
     sleep 3
-    # run_if_exists ansible_ping "${inventory}"
+    run_if_exists ansible_ping "${inventory}"
     run_if_exists query_container_installed_software
 }