diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a3c50f2bbb..3f88715874 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -195,12 +195,22 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Rust toolchain for s3s-e2e installation
         uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
 
+      # s3s-e2e depends on aws-lc-sys (CMake) and other native crates; minimal runners may omit these.
+      - name: Install build dependencies for s3s-e2e
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y \
+            build-essential \
+            cmake \
+            pkg-config \
+            libssl-dev
+
       - name: Install s3s-e2e test tool
         uses: taiki-e/cache-cargo-install-action@v2
         with:
           tool: s3s-e2e
           git: https://github.com/s3s-project/s3s.git
-          rev: 4a04a670cf41274d9be9ab65dc36f4aa3f92fbad
+          rev: da276469212a6d57ac5a6bf831e6af41e0646785
 
       - name: Run end-to-end tests
         run: |
@@ -234,6 +244,17 @@ jobs:
       - name: Make binary executable
         run: chmod +x ./target/debug/rustfs
 
+      # Same as e2e-s3tests.yml: provision awscurl (admin API SigV4) and tox before run.sh.
+      # Minimal images may ship python3 without pip (No module named pip).
+      # Ubuntu/Debian PEP 668 (externally-managed-environment) rejects plain --user installs; use
+      # --break-system-packages for CI-only user-site installs (same fallback as scripts/s3-tests/run.sh).
+      - name: Install Python tools
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y python3-pip
+          python3 -m pip install --user --break-system-packages --upgrade pip awscurl tox
+          echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+
       - name: Run implemented s3-tests
         run: |
           DEPLOY_MODE=binary \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-s3tests.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-s3tests.yml
index a2a8829ae5..213061ca16 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-s3tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-s3tests.yml
@@ -78,7 +78,9 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install Python tools
         run: |
-          python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip awscurl tox
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y python3-pip
+          python3 -m pip install --user --break-system-packages --upgrade pip awscurl tox
           echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
 
       - name: Enable buildx
@@ -240,7 +242,9 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install Python tools
         run: |
-          python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip awscurl tox
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y python3-pip
+          python3 -m pip install --user --break-system-packages --upgrade pip awscurl tox
           echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
 
       - name: Enable buildx
diff --git a/scripts/s3-tests/run.sh b/scripts/s3-tests/run.sh
index ced0ecbb62..4f4fd37035 100755
--- a/scripts/s3-tests/run.sh
+++ b/scripts/s3-tests/run.sh
@@ -723,6 +723,32 @@ install_python_package() {
     local package=$1
     local error_output
 
+    # Debian/Ubuntu minimal images often have python3 but no pip (No module named pip).
+    if ! python3 -m pip --version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            log_warn "python3 has no pip; installing python3-pip via apt..."
+            if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
+                apt-get update -qq
+                DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y python3-pip || {
+                    log_error "Failed to install python3-pip via apt-get"
+                    return 1
+                }
+            elif command -v sudo >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+                sudo apt-get update -qq
+                sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y python3-pip || {
+                    log_error "Failed to install python3-pip via apt-get"
+                    return 1
+                }
+            else
+                log_error "python3 has no pip. Install python3-pip (or ensure pip) and retry."
+                return 1
+            fi
+        else
+            log_error "python3 has no pip. Install pip (e.g. python3-pip on Debian/Ubuntu) and retry."
+            return 1
+        fi
+    fi
+
     # Try --user first (works on most Linux systems)
     error_output=$(python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip "${package}" 2>&1)
     if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then