diff --git a/.github/workflows/R_CMD_check_Hades.yaml b/.github/workflows/R_CMD_check_Hades.yaml
index b85c0c946..f7c4ea17e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/R_CMD_check_Hades.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/R_CMD_check_Hades.yaml
@@ -67,8 +67,6 @@ jobs:
           
       - name: Setup conda
         uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v2
-        with:
-          activate-environment: "r-reticulate"
         
       - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
         with:
diff --git a/R/HelperFunctions.R b/R/HelperFunctions.R
index e3b939ff6..bf5f71b1b 100644
--- a/R/HelperFunctions.R
+++ b/R/HelperFunctions.R
@@ -94,9 +94,10 @@ listAppend <- function(a, b){
 #'
 #' @param envname   A string for the name of the virtual environment (default is 'PLP') 
 #' @param envtype   An option for specifying the environment as'conda' or 'python'.  If NULL then the default is 'conda' for windows users and 'python' for non-windows users 
+#' @param condaPythonVersion String, Python version to use when creating a conda environment
 #'
 #' @export
-configurePython <- function(envname='PLP', envtype=NULL){
+configurePython <- function(envname='PLP', envtype=NULL, condaPythonVersion="3.11"){
   
   if(is.null(envtype)){
     if(getOs()=='windows'){
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ configurePython <- function(envname='PLP', envtype=NULL){
       warning(paste0('Conda environment ', envname,' exists.  You can use reticulate::conda_remove() to remove if you want to fresh config'))
     } else {
       ParallelLogger::logInfo(paste0('Creating virtual conda environment called ', envname))
-      location <- reticulate::conda_create(envname=envname, packages = "python", conda = "auto")
+      location <- reticulate::conda_create(envname=envname, packages = paste0("python==", condaPythonVersion), conda = "auto")
     }
     packages <- c('numpy','scipy','scikit-learn', 'pandas','pydotplus','joblib')
     ParallelLogger::logInfo(paste0('Adding python dependancies to ', envname))
diff --git a/man/configurePython.Rd b/man/configurePython.Rd
index 9d014fa94..99e8d79aa 100644
--- a/man/configurePython.Rd
+++ b/man/configurePython.Rd
@@ -4,12 +4,14 @@
 \alias{configurePython}
 \title{Sets up a virtual environment to use for PLP (can be conda or python)}
 \usage{
-configurePython(envname = "PLP", envtype = NULL)
+configurePython(envname = "PLP", envtype = NULL, condaPythonVersion = "3.11")
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{envname}{A string for the name of the virtual environment (default is 'PLP')}
 
 \item{envtype}{An option for specifying the environment as'conda' or 'python'.  If NULL then the default is 'conda' for windows users and 'python' for non-windows users}
+
+\item{condaPythonVersion}{String, Python version to use when creating a conda environment}
 }
 \description{
 Sets up a virtual environment to use for PLP (can be conda or python)