diff --git a/utils/lib.sh b/utils/lib.sh
index 76173d8a9..60476610a 100755
--- a/utils/lib.sh
+++ b/utils/lib.sh
@@ -952,7 +952,7 @@ pkg_install() {
             ;;
         arch)
             # shellcheck disable=SC2068
-            pacman -S --noconfirm $@
+            pacman -Sy --noconfirm $@
             ;;
         fedora)
             # shellcheck disable=SC2068
@@ -1098,13 +1098,13 @@ EOF
 }
 
 # apt packages
-LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_debian="bash git build-essential python3"
+LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_debian="bash git build-essential python3 virtualenv"
 
 # pacman packages
-LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_arch="bash git base-devel python"
+LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_arch="bash git base-devel python python-virtualenv"
 
 # dnf packages
-LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_fedora="bash git @development-tools python"
+LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_fedora="bash git @development-tools python virtualenv"
 
 case $DIST_ID in
     ubuntu|debian) LXC_BASE_PACKAGES="${LXC_BASE_PACKAGES_debian}" ;;
diff --git a/utils/makefile.python b/utils/makefile.python
index 49944442e..df16acbbf 100644
--- a/utils/makefile.python
+++ b/utils/makefile.python
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ PYLINT_RC ?= .pylintrc
 TEST_FOLDER  ?= ./tests
 TEST         ?= .
 
-VTENV_OPTS   = "--no-site-packages"
 PY_ENV       = ./$(LXC_ENV_FOLDER)local/py$(PY)
 PY_ENV_BIN   = $(PY_ENV)/bin
 PY_ENV_ACT   = . $(PY_ENV_BIN)/activate
@@ -41,6 +40,7 @@ ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
   PY_ENV_ACT = $(PY_ENV_BIN)/activate
 endif
 
+VTENV_OPTS ?=
 ifeq ($(PYTHON),python)
   VIRTUALENV   = virtualenv
 else
diff --git a/utils/searx.sh b/utils/searx.sh
index 17e8db84e..981c498fc 100755
--- a/utils/searx.sh
+++ b/utils/searx.sh
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ SEARX_UWSGI_SOCKET="/run/uwsgi/app/searx/socket"
 
 # apt packages
 SEARX_PACKAGES_debian="\
-python3-dev python3-babel python3-venv
+virtualenv python3-dev python3-babel python3-venv
 uwsgi uwsgi-plugin-python3
 git build-essential libxslt-dev zlib1g-dev libffi-dev libssl-dev
 shellcheck"
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ texlive-latex-recommended texlive-extra-utils ttf-dejavu"
 
 # pacman packages
 SEARX_PACKAGES_arch="\
-python python-pip python-lxml python-babel
+python-virtualenv python python-pip python-lxml python-babel
 uwsgi uwsgi-plugin-python
 git base-devel libxml2
 shellcheck"
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ texlive-core texlive-latexextra ttf-dejavu"
 
 # dnf packages
 SEARX_PACKAGES_fedora="\
-python python-pip python-lxml python-babel
+virtualenv python python-pip python-lxml python-babel
 uwsgi uwsgi-plugin-python3
 git @development-tools libxml2
 ShellCheck"