diff --git a/ci/lib.sh b/ci/lib.sh
index a90d0dc0fd2ae3..c3a8cd2104641e 100755
--- a/ci/lib.sh
+++ b/ci/lib.sh
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ linux-clang|linux-gcc)
 	if [ "$jobname" = linux-gcc ]
 	then
 		export CC=gcc-8
+		MAKEFLAGS="$MAKEFLAGS PYTHON_PATH=$(which python3)"
+	else
+		MAKEFLAGS="$MAKEFLAGS PYTHON_PATH=$(which python2)"
 	fi
 
 	export GIT_TEST_HTTPD=true
@@ -182,6 +185,9 @@ osx-clang|osx-gcc)
 	if [ "$jobname" = osx-gcc ]
 	then
 		export CC=gcc-9
+		MAKEFLAGS="$MAKEFLAGS PYTHON_PATH=$(which python3)"
+	else
+		MAKEFLAGS="$MAKEFLAGS PYTHON_PATH=$(which python2)"
 	fi
 
 	# t9810 occasionally fails on Travis CI OS X