diff --git a/_common/common_functions.sh b/_common/common_functions.sh
index 20a1880..ff16074 100644
--- a/_common/common_functions.sh
+++ b/_common/common_functions.sh
@@ -173,3 +173,32 @@ cat > /etc/irods/setup_irods.json << IRODS_CONFIG_END
 IRODS_CONFIG_END
 
 }
+
+# This function installs requirements to install iRODS 4.2.12 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
+# This combination is not officially supported and requires installing some
+# non-standard distro packages. This script has been adapted from
+# https://github.com/irods/irods/issues/4883#issuecomment-731210617
+function install_focal_42_reqs () {
+     sudo apt install -y libpython2-stdlib libpython2.7-minimal libpython2.7-stdlib \
+          python-is-python2 python-six python2 python2-minimal python2.7 python2.7-minimal \
+          python-certifi python-chardet python-idna python-pkg-resources python-setuptools
+
+     PY_URLLIB_PREFIX="http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/p/python-urllib3"
+     PY_URLLIB_FILENAME="python-urllib3_1.22-1ubuntu0.18.04.2_all.deb"
+     PY_REQUESTS_PREFIX="http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/r/requests"
+     PY_REQUESTS_FILENAME="python-requests_2.18.4-2ubuntu0.1_all.deb"
+     OPENSSL_PREFIX="http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/o/openssl1.0"
+     OPENSSL_FILENAME="libssl1.0.0_1.0.2n-1ubuntu5.13_amd64.deb"
+
+     wget \
+        ${PY_URLLIB_PREFIX}/${PY_URLLIB_FILENAME} \
+        ${PY_REQUESTS_PREFIX}/${PY_REQUESTS_FILENAME} \
+        ${OPENSSL_PREFIX}/${OPENSSL_FILENAME}
+
+     for package in $PY_URLLIB_FILENAME $PY_REQUESTS_FILENAME $OPENSSL_FILENAME
+     do echo "Installing package ${package%.*}"
+          sudo dpkg -i "$package"
+          rm "$package"
+     done
+
+}
diff --git a/irods-icommands/install-icommands.sh b/irods-icommands/install-icommands.sh
index f6c5805..9f19d56 100644
--- a/irods-icommands/install-icommands.sh
+++ b/irods-icommands/install-icommands.sh
@@ -65,6 +65,14 @@ ENDAPTREPO
   echo "Installing dependencies ..."
   sudo apt-get -y install aptitude
 
+  RELEASE=$(lsb_release -r | cut -d ":" -f 2| xargs)
+
+  if [ "$RELEASE" == "20.04" ] && [ "$IRODS_VERSION" == "4.2.12" ]
+  then echo "Running specific install steps for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS in combination with iRODS 4.2.12"
+       install_focal_42_reqs
+       echo "End of specific install steps for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS in combination with iRODS 4.2.12"
+  fi
+
   for package in $APT_PACKAGES
   do echo "Installing package $package and its dependencies"
      get_package_version "$package" "$IRODS_VERSION" "ubuntu"