diff --git a/readthedocs/doc_builder/director.py b/readthedocs/doc_builder/director.py
index 5241175f3a3..e94b391b957 100644
--- a/readthedocs/doc_builder/director.py
+++ b/readthedocs/doc_builder/director.py
@@ -135,9 +135,7 @@ def create_vcs_environment(self):
             version=self.data.version,
             build=self.data.build,
             environment=self.get_vcs_env_vars(),
-            # Force the ``container_image`` to use one that has the latest
-            # ca-certificate package which is compatible with Lets Encrypt
-            container_image=settings.RTD_DOCKER_BUILD_SETTINGS["os"]["ubuntu-20.04"],
+            container_image=settings.RTD_DOCKER_CLONE_IMAGE,
             api_client=self.data.api_client,
         )
 
diff --git a/readthedocs/settings/base.py b/readthedocs/settings/base.py
index cea0550f8d3..13009f654ac 100644
--- a/readthedocs/settings/base.py
+++ b/readthedocs/settings/base.py
@@ -674,6 +674,9 @@ def TEMPLATES(self):
     }
     # Always point to the latest stable release.
     RTD_DOCKER_BUILD_SETTINGS['tools']['python']['3'] = RTD_DOCKER_BUILD_SETTINGS['tools']['python']['3.11']
+    # This is used for the image used to clone the users repo,
+    # since we can't read their config file image choice before cloning
+    RTD_DOCKER_CLONE_IMAGE = RTD_DOCKER_BUILD_SETTINGS["os"]["ubuntu-22.04"],
 
     def _get_docker_memory_limit(self):
         try: