diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
index 787f98b535a..72bfd0544fe 100755
--- a/run.sh
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 
 cd `dirname $0`
 
+# If there is a .venv/ directory, assume it contains a virtualenv that we
+# should run this instance in.
+if [ -d .venv ];
+then
+    . .venv/bin/activate
+fi
+
 python ./scripts/check_python.py
 [ $? -ne 0 ] && exit 1
 
@@ -11,13 +18,6 @@ if [ -n "$GALAXY_UNIVERSE_CONFIG_DIR" ]; then
     python ./scripts/build_universe_config.py "$GALAXY_UNIVERSE_CONFIG_DIR"
 fi
 
-# If there is a .venv/ directory, assume it contains a virtualenv that we
-# should run this instance in.
-if [ -d .venv ];
-then
-    . .venv/bin/activate
-fi
-
 if [ -n "$GALAXY_RUN_ALL" ]; then
     servers=`sed -n 's/^\[server:\(.*\)\]/\1/  p' universe_wsgi.ini | xargs echo`
     daemon=`echo "$@" | grep -q daemon`
diff --git a/run_reports.sh b/run_reports.sh
index e539b6c4d30..4f3b77afb83 100755
--- a/run_reports.sh
+++ b/run_reports.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@
 
 cd `dirname $0`
 
+# If there is a .venv/ directory, assume it contains a virtualenv that we
+# should run this instance in.
+if [ -d .venv ];
+then
+    . .venv/bin/activate
+fi
+
 ./scripts/common_startup.sh --skip-samples
 
 GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG=${GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG:-reports_wsgi.ini}