diff --git a/control/activate_venv.sh b/control/activate_venv.sh
index 6db19e4a01..01a8f3be41 100644
--- a/control/activate_venv.sh
+++ b/control/activate_venv.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 CCHQ_VIRTUALENV=${CCHQ_VIRTUALENV:-cchq}
 VENV=~/.virtualenvs/$CCHQ_VIRTUALENV
-BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON=${BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON:-false}
 fail_on_error='false' # if true, prints error message and returns exit code 1
 
 while test $# -gt 0; do
@@ -16,22 +15,6 @@ while test $# -gt 0; do
   esac
 done
 
-if [ "$BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON" == "true" ]; then
-    echo "The variable BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON is set in your environment."
-    echo "This variable should only be used temporarily when it is absolutely necessary to use Python 3.6 on 18.04."
-    echo "Please remove this variable from your environment when you are able to use Python 3.10 again."
-fi
-
-# if on 18.04 with 3.10 installed, use cchq-3.10 unless $BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON is true
-if [ "$BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON" == "false" ] && hash python3.10 2>/dev/null && [ $( source /etc/os-release; echo "$VERSION_ID" ) == "18.04" ]; then
-    # only append 3.10 if it is not already in the name
-    if [[ "$CCHQ_VIRTUALENV" != *"3.10"* ]]; then
-        # save for reference by callers
-        CCHQ_VENV_PATH_OLD="$VENV"
-        CCHQ_VIRTUALENV=$CCHQ_VIRTUALENV-3.10
-    fi
-    VENV=~/.virtualenvs/$CCHQ_VIRTUALENV
-fi
 
 # activate virtualenv if it exists, otherwise exit with error
 if [ -f "$VENV/bin/activate" ]; then
diff --git a/control/init.sh b/control/init.sh
index 00810f42e6..05afb5fae8 100755
--- a/control/init.sh
+++ b/control/init.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 CCHQ_VIRTUALENV=${CCHQ_VIRTUALENV:-cchq}
 VENV=~/.virtualenvs/$CCHQ_VIRTUALENV
 NO_INPUT=0
-BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON=${BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON:-false}
 
 if [[ $_ == $0 ]]
 then
@@ -40,32 +39,14 @@ if [ -z ${CI_TEST} ]; then
     if [ "$VIRTUALENV_NOT_FOUND" == "true" ]; then
         # check if a virtualenv at $VENV exists yet, and create if not
         if [[ ! -f $VENV/bin/activate ]]; then
-            if [[ $BIONIC_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON == false ]] && hash python3.10 2>/dev/null; then
-                echo "Creating a python3.10 virtual environment named ${CCHQ_VIRTUALENV}"
-                if [ -n "$CCHQ_VENV_PATH_OLD" ]; then
-                    echo "Your old virtual environment will remain at ${CCHQ_VENV_PATH_OLD}"
-                    echo "If you wish to delete it, run 'rm -rf ${CCHQ_VENV_PATH_OLD}'"
-                fi
-                # use venv because 3.10 setup includes installing python3.10-venv
-                python3.10 -m venv "$VENV"
-            else
-                # use virtualenv because `python3 -m venv` requires python3-venv
-                python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade virtualenv
-                python3 -m virtualenv "$VENV"
-            fi
+            # use virtualenv because `python3 -m venv` requires python3-venv
+            python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade virtualenv
+            python3 -m virtualenv "$VENV"
         fi
         source "$VENV/bin/activate"
     fi
 fi
 
-# check for unsupported python version after virtual env is activated
-python_version=`python --version 2>&1 | awk '{print $2}'`
-if [[ $python_version = 3.6* ]]; then
-    echo "commcare-cloud no longer supports Python 3.6."
-    echo "To upgrade, follow the instructions in:"
-    echo "   https://commcare-cloud.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation/2-manual-install.html#upgrade-to-python-3-10"
-fi
-
 if [ -d ~/commcarehq-ansible ]; then
     echo "Moving repo to ~/commcare-cloud"
     mv ~/commcarehq-ansible ~/commcare-cloud
diff --git a/docs/source/reference/1-commcare-cloud/1-installation.rst b/docs/source/reference/1-commcare-cloud/1-installation.rst
index 21bca61ef9..117119aa0d 100644
--- a/docs/source/reference/1-commcare-cloud/1-installation.rst
+++ b/docs/source/reference/1-commcare-cloud/1-installation.rst
@@ -117,10 +117,7 @@ If you get to this point, congratulations! ``commcare-cloud`` is installed.
 Manual Installation
 -------------------
 
-You will need python 3.10 installed to follow these instructions. See
-:ref:`installation/2-manual-install:Upgrade to Python 3.10` for instructions on
-getting it installed on Ubuntu 22.04. Steps for other operating systems may
-differ.
+You will need python 3.10 installed to follow these instructions.
 
 
 Setup
diff --git a/quick_monolith_install/cchq-install.sh b/quick_monolith_install/cchq-install.sh
index 7683556b5e..cbab57e575 100755
--- a/quick_monolith_install/cchq-install.sh
+++ b/quick_monolith_install/cchq-install.sh
@@ -40,12 +40,6 @@ sudo apt --assume-yes -qq update
 sudo apt --assume-yes -qq install python3-pip sshpass
 sudo -H pip3 -q install --upgrade pip
 sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3 10
-# install python 3.10 if on ubuntu 18.04 and not installed yet
-if ! hash python3.10 2>/dev/null && [[ $( source /etc/os-release; echo $VERSION_ID ) == 18.04 ]]; then
-    sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
-    sudo apt update
-    sudo apt-get --assume-yes -q install python3.10 python3.10-dev python3.10-distutils python3.10-venv libffi-dev
-fi
 
 printf "\n"
 printf "#################################################"
diff --git a/tests/cloud/Dockerfile b/tests/cloud/Dockerfile
index 89dbfbae4b..67f8c4c9c1 100644
--- a/tests/cloud/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/cloud/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM ubuntu:18.04
+FROM ubuntu:22.04
 RUN apt update && \
     apt upgrade -y && \
     apt install sudo -y && \