diff --git a/.azure/ci-linux-job.yml b/.azure/ci-linux-job.yml
index fb5f3f87..cda673c8 100644
--- a/.azure/ci-linux-job.yml
+++ b/.azure/ci-linux-job.yml
@@ -3,25 +3,17 @@ jobs:
   timeoutInMinutes: 90
   displayName: 'Linux CI'
   pool:
-    vmImage: 'Ubuntu 18.04'
+    vmImage: 'Ubuntu 20.04'
   strategy:
     matrix:
       Py37:
-        python: 'python3.7'
-        make_venv: 'python3.7 -m venv venv'
-        venv_pkg: 'python3.7-venv'
+        python.version: '3.7'
       Py38:
-        python: 'python3.8'
-        make_venv: 'python3.8 -m venv venv'
-        venv_pkg: 'python3.8-venv'
+        python.version: '3.8'
       Py39:
-        python: 'python3.9'
-        make_venv: 'python3.9 -m venv venv'
-        venv_pkg: 'python3.9-venv'
+        python.version: '3.9'
       Py310:
-        python: 'python3.10'
-        make_venv: 'python3.10 -m venv venv'
-        venv_pkg: 'python3.10-venv'
+        python.version: '3.10'
 
   variables: {'PYTHONUNBUFFERED': '1'}
 
@@ -29,42 +21,37 @@ jobs:
   - checkout: self
     submodules: recursive
 
+  - task: UsePythonVersion@0
+    inputs:
+      versionSpec: '$(python.version)'
+
   - script: |
-      sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
-      sudo apt-get update
       sudo apt-get install -y build-essential
-      sudo apt-get install -y $PYTHON ${PYTHON}-dev lib${PYTHON}-dev
       sudo apt-get install -y libgtk-3-dev libjpeg-dev libtiff-dev \
               libsdl2-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libnotify-dev \
-              libsm-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev libxtst-dev \
-              libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev $VENV_PKG
+              libsm-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev libxtst-dev libexpat1-dev \
+              libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev \
+              libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-dev
     displayName: 'Install deb package requirements'
 
   - script: |
-      $PYTHON --version
-      $MAKE_VENV
-      source venv/bin/activate
       python -m pip install -U pip setuptools wheel
       python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
     displayName: 'Install Python dependencies'
 
   - script: |
-      source venv/bin/activate
       python build.py --jobs=4 build_wx
     displayName: 'build wxWidgets'
 
   - script: |
-      source venv/bin/activate
       python build.py dox etg --nodoc sip
     displayName: 'generate code'
 
   - script: |
-      source venv/bin/activate
       python build.py --jobs=4 build_py
     displayName: 'build wxPython'
 
   - script: |
-      source venv/bin/activate
       python build.py bdist_wheel
       python build.py install
       python -c "import wx; print(wx.version());"