diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5692ba3c1..c386dc47e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ endif
 include Makefile.conf
 endif
 
-PYTHON_EXECUTABLE := $(shell if python3 -c ""; then echo "python3"; else echo "python"; fi)
+PYTHON_EXECUTABLE ?= $(shell if python3 -c ""; then echo "python3"; else echo "python"; fi)
 ifeq ($(ENABLE_PYOSYS),1)
 PYTHON_VERSION_TESTCODE := "import sys;t='{v[0]}.{v[1]}'.format(v=list(sys.version_info[:2]));print(t)"
 PYTHON_VERSION := $(shell $(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE) -c ""$(PYTHON_VERSION_TESTCODE)"")