diff --git a/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/package-installs.yaml b/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/package-installs.yaml
index 85c7f0eb..6d38d160 100644
--- a/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/package-installs.yaml
+++ b/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/package-installs.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# This package is only valid for SUSE and we need to pull it in
+# early enough because pip depends on it.
+python-xml:
+  phase: pre-install.d
 python-pip:
   installtype: package
 python-virtualenv:
diff --git a/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/pkg-map b/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/pkg-map
index 668d9517..508fd004 100644
--- a/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/pkg-map
+++ b/elements/pip-and-virtualenv/pkg-map
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
     "gentoo": {
       "python-pip": "dev-python/pip",
       "python-virtualenv": "dev-python/virtualenv"
+    },
+    "suse" : {
+      "python-xml": "python-xml"
     }
+  },
+  "default": {
+    "python-xml": ""
   }
 }