diff --git a/manage b/manage
index 155a1f2dd..2a88a4c5c 100755
--- a/manage
+++ b/manage
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ gecko.driver() {
             build_msg INSTALL "geckodriver already installed"
             return
         fi
-        PLATFORM="$(python3 -c 'import platform; print(platform.system().lower(), platform.architecture()[0])')"
+        PLATFORM="$(python -c 'import platform; print(platform.system().lower(), platform.architecture()[0])')"
         case "$PLATFORM" in
             "linux 32bit" | "linux2 32bit") ARCH="linux32";;
             "linux 64bit" | "linux2 64bit") ARCH="linux64";;
diff --git a/utils/lib.sh b/utils/lib.sh
index 16bfb4398..e527fa1b6 100755
--- a/utils/lib.sh
+++ b/utils/lib.sh
@@ -1674,7 +1674,7 @@ EOF
 }
 
 # apt packages
-LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_debian="bash git build-essential python3 python3-venv"
+LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_debian="bash git build-essential python3 python3-venv python-is-python3"
 
 # pacman packages
 LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_arch="bash git base-devel python"
diff --git a/utils/lib_go.sh b/utils/lib_go.sh
index 462bbbba0..0b58fad61 100755
--- a/utils/lib_go.sh
+++ b/utils/lib_go.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ EOF
 }
 
 go.ls(){
-    python3 <<EOF
+    python <<EOF
 import sys, json, requests
 resp = requests.get("${GO_DL_URL}/?mode=json&include=all")
 for ver in json.loads(resp.text):
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ go.ver_info(){
     # os:    [darwin|freebsd|linux|windows]
     # arch:  [amd64|arm64|386|armv6l|ppc64le|s390x]
 
-    python3 - "$@" <<EOF
+    python - "$@" <<EOF
 import sys, json, requests
 resp = requests.get("${GO_DL_URL}/?mode=json&include=all")
 for ver in json.loads(resp.text):
diff --git a/utils/searxng.sh b/utils/searxng.sh
index 7626a4aa7..ea6a467d2 100755
--- a/utils/searxng.sh
+++ b/utils/searxng.sh
@@ -96,13 +96,8 @@ case $DIST_ID-$DIST_VERS in
         SEARXNG_BUILD_PACKAGES="${SEARXNG_BUILD_PACKAGES_debian}"
         APACHE_PACKAGES="$APACHE_PACKAGES libapache2-mod-proxy-uwsgi"
         ;;
-    ubuntu-20.04)
-        # https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FocalFossa/ReleaseNotes#Python3_by_default
-        SEARXNG_PACKAGES="${SEARXNG_PACKAGES_debian} python-is-python3"
-        SEARXNG_BUILD_PACKAGES="${SEARXNG_BUILD_PACKAGES_debian}"
-        ;;
     ubuntu-*|debian-*)
-        SEARXNG_PACKAGES="${SEARXNG_PACKAGES_debian}"
+        SEARXNG_PACKAGES="${SEARXNG_PACKAGES_debian} python-is-python3"
         SEARXNG_BUILD_PACKAGES="${SEARXNG_BUILD_PACKAGES_debian}"
         ;;
     arch-*)
@@ -453,6 +448,7 @@ searxng.install.clone() {
 
     # clone repo and add a safe.directory entry to git's system config / see
     # https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues/1251
+    git config --system --add safe.directory "${REPO_ROOT}/.git"
     git_clone "$REPO_ROOT" "${SEARXNG_SRC}" \
               "$GIT_BRANCH" "${SERVICE_USER}"
     git config --system --add safe.directory "${SEARXNG_SRC}"
@@ -489,7 +485,7 @@ searxng.install.pyenv() {
     info_msg "create pyenv in ${SEARXNG_PYENV}"
     tee_stderr 0.1 <<EOF | sudo -H -u "${SERVICE_USER}" -i 2>&1 | prefix_stdout "$_service_prefix"
 rm -rf "${SEARXNG_PYENV}"
-python3 -m venv "${SEARXNG_PYENV}"
+python -m venv "${SEARXNG_PYENV}"
 grep -qFs -- 'source ${SEARXNG_PYENV}/bin/activate' ~/.profile \
   || echo 'source ${SEARXNG_PYENV}/bin/activate' >> ~/.profile
 EOF