diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 4b95ad522..7bb9d5fa9 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ MAINTAINERCLEANDIRS = \
 
 
 test:
-	python test/runtests.py
+	${PYTHON} test/runtests.py
 .PHONY: test
 
 doc: