diff --git a/ansible/roles/gsm-tester/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/gsm-tester/tasks/main.yml
index 5cc83bca..83b3db6e 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/gsm-tester/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/gsm-tester/tasks/main.yml
@@ -33,10 +33,17 @@
     - libsofia-sip-ua-glib-dev
     - libsqlite3-dev
     - libasound2-dev
-    - mdbus2
     - liblua5.3-dev
     - lua-socket
 
+# mdbus2 is not available in debian10. TODO: compile it for >9
+- name: install mdbus2
+  apt:
+    name: "{{ item }}"
+  with_items:
+    - mdbus2
+  when: ansible_distribution == 'Debian' and ansible_distribution_version <= '9'
+
 - name: install srsLTE runtime dependencies
   apt:
     name: "{{ item }}"