diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 09b597d450..8d4e6050b3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ OBJCOPY		= $(CROSS_COMPILE)objcopy
 OBJDUMP		= $(CROSS_COMPILE)objdump
 AWK		= awk
 PERL		= perl
-PYTHON		= python
+PYTHON		?= python
 DTC		= dtc
 CHECK		= sparse
 
diff --git a/tools/Makefile b/tools/Makefile
index fa1b85bdae..2fc4a583d4 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile
+++ b/tools/Makefile
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ _libfdt.so-sharedobjs += $(LIBFDT_OBJS)
 libfdt:
 
 tools/_libfdt.so: $(patsubst %.o,%.c,$(LIBFDT_OBJS)) tools/libfdt_wrap.c
-	LDFLAGS="$(HOSTLDFLAGS)" CFLAGS= python $(srctree)/lib/libfdt/setup.py \
+	LDFLAGS="$(HOSTLDFLAGS)" CFLAGS= ${PYTHON} $(srctree)/lib/libfdt/setup.py \
 		"$(_hostc_flags)" $^
 	mv _libfdt.so $@