diff --git a/armada/__init__.py b/armada/__init__.py
index e69de29b..7faf876b 100644
--- a/armada/__init__.py
+++ b/armada/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+import pylibyaml  # noqa: F401  # patch pyyaml to use libyaml bindings
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 99cb6c28..0527ddf3 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ kubernetes>=11.0.0
 Paste>=2.0.3
 PasteDeploy>=1.5.2
 protobuf>=3.4.0
+pylibyaml~=0.1
 pyyaml~=5.1
 requests
 retry