diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 2f395f38d1..eaaf3356bf 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_NVTX_PROFILE "Enable NVTX profile." OFF)
 option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_MEMORY_PROFILE "Enable memory profile." OFF)
 option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING "Enable training functionality." OFF)
 option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_OPS "Include training operators but no training session support." OFF)
-option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP "Enable training kernels interop with torch." ON)
+option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP "Enable training kernels interop with torch." OFF)
 option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_E2E_TESTS "Enable training end-to-end tests." OFF)
 option(onnxruntime_ENABLE_CPU_FP16_OPS "Build with advanced instruction sets" ON)
 option(onnxruntime_USE_NCCL "Build with NCCL support" OFF)
@@ -221,9 +221,8 @@ set(NSYNC_ENABLE_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build protobuf tests" FORCE)
 set(ONNX_ML 1)
 if(NOT onnxruntime_ENABLE_PYTHON)
   set(onnxruntime_ENABLE_LANGUAGE_INTEROP_OPS OFF)
-else()
-  add_compile_definitions(ENABLE_PYTHON)
 endif()
+
 if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_LANGUAGE_INTEROP_OPS)
   add_compile_definitions(ENABLE_LANGUAGE_INTEROP_OPS)
 endif()
@@ -231,8 +230,11 @@ endif()
 if (NOT (onnxruntime_ENABLE_PYTHON AND onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING))
   set(onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP OFF)
 endif()
+
 if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
   add_compile_definitions(ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
+  # disable tests because executable projects need link to python so which did not always exist for test envs.
+  set(onnxruntime_BUILD_UNIT_TESTS OFF)
 endif()
 
 # General C# properties
@@ -636,7 +638,7 @@ endif()
 #Need python to generate def file
 if(onnxruntime_BUILD_SHARED_LIB OR onnxruntime_ENABLE_PYTHON)
   if(onnxruntime_ENABLE_PYTHON)
-    if(onnxruntime_ENABLE_LANGUAGE_INTEROP_OPS OR onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
+    if(onnxruntime_ENABLE_LANGUAGE_INTEROP_OPS)
       find_package(Python 3.6 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development NumPy)
     else()
       find_package(Python 3.6 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development.Module NumPy)
diff --git a/cmake/onnxruntime_framework.cmake b/cmake/onnxruntime_framework.cmake
index 1b00bbdb3c..b9e6cc4859 100644
--- a/cmake/onnxruntime_framework.cmake
+++ b/cmake/onnxruntime_framework.cmake
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING OR onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_OPS)
   target_include_directories(onnxruntime_framework PRIVATE ${ORTTRAINING_ROOT})
   if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
     onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_framework Python::Module)
-    target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_framework PRIVATE Python::Python)
   endif()
   if (onnxruntime_USE_NCCL OR onnxruntime_USE_MPI)  
     target_include_directories(onnxruntime_framework PUBLIC ${MPI_CXX_INCLUDE_DIRS})
diff --git a/cmake/onnxruntime_interop_torch.cmake b/cmake/onnxruntime_interop_torch.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d04117bb1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/onnxruntime_interop_torch.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+# Licensed under the MIT License.
+
+# Python dependent files for torch interop
+file(GLOB onnxruntime_interop_torch_srcs
+    "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/core/training_ops/cpu/torch/*.h"
+    "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/core/training_ops/cpu/torch/*.cc"
+    "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/language_interop_ops/torch/*.h"
+    "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/language_interop_ops/torch/*.cc"
+)
+
+onnxruntime_add_static_library(onnxruntime_interop_torch ${onnxruntime_interop_torch_srcs})
+add_dependencies(onnxruntime_interop_torch onnx ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCIES})
+onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_interop_torch onnxruntime_common onnx onnx_proto ${PROTOBUF_LIB} flatbuffers Python::Module)
+target_include_directories(onnxruntime_interop_torch PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR} ${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT} ${ORTTRAINING_ROOT} PUBLIC ${onnxruntime_graph_header} ${DLPACK_INCLUDE_DIR})
+target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_interop_torch PRIVATE onnxruntime_python_interface)
diff --git a/cmake/onnxruntime_providers.cmake b/cmake/onnxruntime_providers.cmake
index a2dcabcb67..272d2adabd 100644
--- a/cmake/onnxruntime_providers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/onnxruntime_providers.cmake
@@ -135,8 +135,6 @@ if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_OPS)
     "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/training_ops/cpu/tensorboard/*.h"
     "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/training_ops/cpu/aten_ops/*.cc"
     "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/training_ops/cpu/aten_ops/*.h"
-    "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/training_ops/cpu/torch/*.cc"
-    "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/training_ops/cpu/torch/*.h"
   )
 
   list(REMOVE_ITEM onnxruntime_providers_src ${onnxruntime_cpu_full_training_only_srcs})
@@ -152,37 +150,21 @@ if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING)
     "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/core/framework/communication/*"
   )
 
+  list(REMOVE_ITEM onnxruntime_cpu_training_ops_srcs 
+    "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/training_ops/cpu/torch/*.cc"
+    "${ORTTRAINING_SOURCE_DIR}/training_ops/cpu/torch/*.h"
+  )
+
   source_group(TREE ${ORTTRAINING_ROOT}/ FILES ${onnxruntime_cpu_training_ops_srcs})
   list(APPEND onnxruntime_providers_src ${onnxruntime_cpu_training_ops_srcs})
 
-  file(GLOB_RECURSE onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_cpp_interfaces_srcs CONFIGURE_DEPENDS
+  file(GLOB_RECURSE onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_srcs CONFIGURE_DEPENDS
     "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/dlpack_converter.cc"
     "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/dlpack_converter.h"
   )
-  set(onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_srcs ${onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_cpp_interfaces_srcs})
-
-  if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_PYTHON)
-    file(GLOB_RECURSE onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_python_interfaces_srcs CONFIGURE_DEPENDS
-      "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.cc"
-      "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.h"
-      "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/python_common.cc"
-      "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/python_common.h"
-    )
-    list(APPEND onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_srcs ${onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_python_interfaces_srcs})
-  endif()
-
+  set(onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_srcs ${onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_srcs})
   source_group(TREE ${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core FILES ${onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_srcs})
   list(APPEND onnxruntime_providers_src ${onnxruntime_providers_dlpack_srcs})
-
-  if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
-    file(GLOB_RECURSE onnxruntime_language_interop_torch_srcs CONFIGURE_DEPENDS
-      "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/language_interop_ops/torch/*.h"
-      "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/language_interop_ops/torch/*.cc"
-    )
-
-    source_group(TREE ${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core FILES ${onnxruntime_language_interop_torch_srcs})
-    list(APPEND onnxruntime_providers_src ${onnxruntime_language_interop_torch_srcs})
-  endif()
 endif()
 
 onnxruntime_add_static_library(onnxruntime_providers ${onnxruntime_providers_src})
@@ -229,8 +211,7 @@ if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING)
   add_dependencies(onnxruntime_providers tensorboard)
   onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_providers tensorboard)
   if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
-    onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_providers tensorboard Python::Module)
-    target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_providers PRIVATE Python::Python)
+    onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_providers Python::Module)
   endif()
 
   if (onnxruntime_USE_NCCL OR onnxruntime_USE_MPI)
@@ -369,7 +350,6 @@ if (onnxruntime_USE_CUDA)
     target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_providers_cuda PRIVATE onnxruntime_training)
     if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
       onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_providers_cuda Python::Module)
-      target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_providers_cuda PRIVATE Python::Python)
     endif()
   endif()
 
@@ -1122,7 +1102,6 @@ if (onnxruntime_USE_ROCM)
     target_include_directories(onnxruntime_providers_rocm PRIVATE ${ORTTRAINING_ROOT} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/amdgpu/orttraining)
     if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
       onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_providers_rocm Python::Module)
-      target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_providers_rocm PRIVATE Python::Python)
     endif()
   endif()
 
diff --git a/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake b/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake
index de45322465..545b52dd4b 100644
--- a/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake
+++ b/cmake/onnxruntime_python.cmake
@@ -49,10 +49,23 @@ endif()
 if (onnxruntime_USE_NCCL)
   target_include_directories(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE ${NCCL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 endif()
+
 if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING)
   # DLPack is a header-only dependency
   set(DLPACK_INCLUDE_DIR ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/external/dlpack/include)
   target_include_directories(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE ${ORTTRAINING_ROOT} ${DLPACK_INCLUDE_DIR})
+
+  file(GLOB onnxruntime_python_interface_cc_srcs
+    "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.cc"
+    "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.h"
+    "${ONNXRUNTIME_ROOT}/core/dlpack/python_common.h"
+  )
+
+  onnxruntime_add_static_library(onnxruntime_python_interface ${onnxruntime_python_interface_cc_srcs})
+  add_dependencies(onnxruntime_python_interface onnx  ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCIES})
+  target_include_directories(onnxruntime_python_interface PRIVATE ${DLPACK_INCLUDE_DIR})
+  onnxruntime_add_include_to_target(onnxruntime_python_interface onnxruntime_common onnx onnx_proto ${PROTOBUF_LIB} flatbuffers Python::Module)
+  target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE onnxruntime_python_interface)
 endif()
 
 if(APPLE)
@@ -67,6 +80,10 @@ if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING)
   target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE onnxruntime_training)
 endif()
 
+if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
+  target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE onnxruntime_interop_torch)
+endif()
+
 target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE
     onnxruntime_session
     ${onnxruntime_libs}
@@ -96,8 +113,6 @@ if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_LANGUAGE_INTEROP_OPS)
   target_link_libraries(onnxruntime_pybind11_state PRIVATE onnxruntime_language_interop onnxruntime_pyop)
 endif()
 
-
-
 set(onnxruntime_pybind11_state_dependencies
     ${onnxruntime_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCIES}
     ${pybind11_dep}
@@ -499,3 +514,7 @@ endif()
 if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_LANGUAGE_INTEROP_OPS)
   include(onnxruntime_language_interop_ops.cmake)
 endif()
+
+if (onnxruntime_ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP)
+  include(onnxruntime_interop_torch.cmake)
+endif()
diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.cc b/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.cc
index fe734fc4da..781c1c7c64 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.cc
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT License.
 
-#ifdef ENABLE_PYTHON
-
 #include "core/dlpack/dlpack_python.h"
 
 namespace onnxruntime {
@@ -37,5 +35,3 @@ OrtValue FromDlpack(PyObject* dlpack_tensor, const bool is_bool_tensor) {
 
 }  // namespace dlpack
 }  // namespace onnxruntime
-
-#endif
diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.h b/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.h
index e38b099097..0888f5e033 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.h
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/dlpack_python.h
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 
 /// Python level interface for DLPack conversion.
 
-#ifdef ENABLE_PYTHON
-
 #pragma once
 
 #include "core/dlpack/dlpack_converter.h"
@@ -25,5 +23,3 @@ OrtValue FromDlpack(PyObject* dlpack_tensor, const bool is_bool_tensor);
 
 }  // namespace dlpack
 }  // namespace onnxruntime
-
-#endif
diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/python_common.h b/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/python_common.h
index 21e1c5b784..0908e65819 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/python_common.h
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/dlpack/python_common.h
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT License.
 
-#ifdef ENABLE_PYTHON
-
 #pragma once
 
 // Avoid  linking to pythonX_d.lib on Windows in debug build
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #pragma warning(push)
-#pragma warning(disable: 4510 4610 4512 4005)
+#pragma warning(disable : 4510 4610 4512 4005)
 #ifdef _DEBUG
 #define ORT_DISABLE_INCLUDE_DEBUG_PYTHON_LIB
 #undef _DEBUG
@@ -24,5 +22,3 @@
 #endif
 #pragma warning(pop)
 #endif
-
-#endif
diff --git a/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc b/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc
index 254d4b317b..229fa4604e 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/python/onnxruntime_pybind_state.cc
@@ -606,9 +606,9 @@ static void RegisterExecutionProviders(InferenceSession* sess, const std::vector
         }
       }
       RegisterExecutionProvider(
-        sess, *onnxruntime::CreateExecutionProviderFactory_VITISAI(target.c_str(), 0,
-                                                                   export_runtime_module.c_str(),
-                                                                   load_runtime_module.c_str()));
+          sess, *onnxruntime::CreateExecutionProviderFactory_VITISAI(target.c_str(), 0,
+                                                                     export_runtime_module.c_str(),
+                                                                     load_runtime_module.c_str()));
 #endif
     } else if (type == kAclExecutionProvider) {
 #ifdef USE_ACL
@@ -817,20 +817,31 @@ void addGlobalMethods(py::module& m, Environment& env) {
         void* p_aten_op_executor = reinterpret_cast<void*>(aten_op_executor_address_int);
         contrib::aten_ops::ATenOperatorExecutor::Initialize(p_aten_op_executor);
       });
-  #ifdef ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP
   m.def("register_forward_runner", [](py::object obj) -> void {
+#ifdef ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP
     auto& pool = onnxruntime::language_interop_ops::torch::OrtTorchFunctionPool::GetInstance();
     pool.RegisterForwardRunner(obj.ptr());
+#else
+        ORT_UNUSED_PARAMETER(obj);
+#endif
   });
   m.def("register_backward_runner", [](py::object obj) -> void {
+#ifdef ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP
     auto& pool = onnxruntime::language_interop_ops::torch::OrtTorchFunctionPool::GetInstance();
     pool.RegisterBackwardRunner(obj.ptr());
+#else
+        ORT_UNUSED_PARAMETER(obj);
+#endif
   });
   m.def("register_torch_autograd_function", [](std::string key, py::object obj) -> void {
+#ifdef ENABLE_TRAINING_TORCH_INTEROP
     auto& pool = onnxruntime::language_interop_ops::torch::OrtTorchFunctionPool::GetInstance();
     pool.RegisterTorchAutogradFunction(key, obj.ptr());
+#else
+        ORT_UNUSED_PARAMETER(key);
+        ORT_UNUSED_PARAMETER(obj);
+#endif
   });
-  #endif
 #endif
 
 #ifdef USE_NUPHAR
diff --git a/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/orttraining-linux-ci-pipeline.yml b/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/orttraining-linux-ci-pipeline.yml
index 538ec3f8ef..c509e7a93f 100644
--- a/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/orttraining-linux-ci-pipeline.yml
+++ b/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/orttraining-linux-ci-pipeline.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ jobs:
 
   - template: templates/get-docker-image-steps.yml
     parameters:
-      Dockerfile: tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/Dockerfile.manylinux2014_training_cpu
+      Dockerfile: tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/Dockerfile.manylinux2014_cpu
       Context: tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker
       DockerBuildArgs: "--build-arg BUILD_UID=$( id -u )"
       Repository: onnxruntimecpubuild
diff --git a/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/Dockerfile.manylinux2014_training_cpu b/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/Dockerfile.manylinux2014_training_cpu
deleted file mode 100644
index db9b3e1088..0000000000
--- a/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/Dockerfile.manylinux2014_training_cpu
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-FROM quay.io/pypa/manylinux2014_x86_64:latest
-
-COPY build_scripts/build_utils.sh /build_scripts/
-COPY build_scripts/cpython-pubkeys.txt /build_scripts/cpython-pubkeys.txt
-COPY build_scripts/build-openssl.sh /build_scripts/
-RUN export OPENSSL_ROOT=openssl-1.1.1k && \
-    export OPENSSL_HASH=892a0875b9872acd04a9fde79b1f943075d5ea162415de3047c327df33fbaee5 && \
-    export OPENSSL_DOWNLOAD_URL=https://www.openssl.org/source && \
-    manylinux-entrypoint /build_scripts/build-openssl.sh
-
-ADD scripts /tmp/scripts
-RUN cd /tmp/scripts && /tmp/scripts/manylinux/install_centos.sh
-
-# Remove existing symbolic link and python installation.
-RUN rm -rf /opt/python/cp37-cp37m && rm -rf /opt/_internal/cpython-3.7.10
-
-# Build Python.
-COPY build_scripts/build-cpython.sh /build_scripts/
-RUN manylinux-entrypoint /build_scripts/build-cpython.sh 3.7.10 1
-
-ENV SSL_CERT_FILE=/opt/_internal/certs.pem
-
-ENV PATH /opt/python/cp37-cp37m/bin:$PATH
-ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH /opt/_internal/cpython-3.7.10/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
-
-# Create symbolic link pointing to new built python installation.
-RUN ln -sf /opt/_internal/cpython-3.7.10 /opt/python/cp37-cp37m && /opt/python/cp37-cp37m/bin/python3.7 -m pip install --upgrade pip
-
-RUN /tmp/scripts/manylinux/install_deps.sh && rm -rf /tmp/scripts
-
-ARG BUILD_UID=1001
-ARG BUILD_USER=onnxruntimedev
-RUN adduser --uid $BUILD_UID $BUILD_USER
-WORKDIR /home/$BUILD_USER
-USER $BUILD_USER
-ENV PATH /usr/local/gradle/bin:$PATH
diff --git a/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh b/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh
index d2e5b67fd1..a2e940d724 100755
--- a/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh
+++ b/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ source $MY_DIR/build_utils.sh
 CPYTHON_VERSION=$1
 CPYTHON_DOWNLOAD_URL=https://www.python.org/ftp/python
 
-BUILD_PYTHON_SO="${2:-0}"
 
 function pyver_dist_dir {
 	# Echoes the dist directory name of given pyver, removing alpha/beta prerelease
@@ -34,22 +33,12 @@ tar -xzf Python-${CPYTHON_VERSION}.tgz
 pushd Python-${CPYTHON_VERSION}
 PREFIX="/opt/_internal/cpython-${CPYTHON_VERSION}"
 mkdir -p ${PREFIX}/lib
-
-if test ${BUILD_PYTHON_SO} -eq 0
-then
-	# configure with hardening options only for the interpreter & stdlib C extensions
-	# do not change the default for user built extension (yet?)
-	./configure \
-		CFLAGS_NODIST="${MANYLINUX_CFLAGS} ${MANYLINUX_CPPFLAGS}" \
-		LDFLAGS_NODIST="${MANYLINUX_LDFLAGS}" \
-		--prefix=${PREFIX} --disable-shared --with-ensurepip=no > /dev/null
-else
-	./configure \
-		CFLAGS_NODIST="${MANYLINUX_CFLAGS} ${MANYLINUX_CPPFLAGS}" \
-		LDFLAGS_NODIST="${MANYLINUX_LDFLAGS}" \
-		--prefix=${PREFIX} --enable-shared --with-ensurepip=yes > /dev/null
-fi
-
+# configure with hardening options only for the interpreter & stdlib C extensions
+# do not change the default for user built extension (yet?)
+./configure \
+	CFLAGS_NODIST="${MANYLINUX_CFLAGS} ${MANYLINUX_CPPFLAGS}" \
+	LDFLAGS_NODIST="${MANYLINUX_LDFLAGS}" \
+	--prefix=${PREFIX} --disable-shared --with-ensurepip=no > /dev/null
 make -j$(nproc) > /dev/null
 make install > /dev/null
 popd
diff --git a/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/scripts/manylinux/install_centos.sh b/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/scripts/manylinux/install_centos.sh
index 8ea848dd1c..d6b6538153 100755
--- a/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/scripts/manylinux/install_centos.sh
+++ b/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/scripts/manylinux/install_centos.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ if ! rpm -q --quiet epel-release ; then
 fi
 
 echo "installing for os major version : $os_major_version"
-yum install -y which gdb redhat-lsb-core expat-devel libcurl-devel tar unzip curl zlib-devel make libunwind icu aria2 rsync bzip2 git bzip2-devel wget libffi-devel
+yum install -y which gdb redhat-lsb-core expat-devel libcurl-devel tar unzip curl zlib-devel make libunwind icu aria2 rsync bzip2 git bzip2-devel
 
 if [ "$os_major_version" == "7" ]; then
     # install dotnet core dependencies