diff --git a/test/parallel/test-child-process-set-blocking.js b/test/parallel/test-child-process-set-blocking.js
index b78b71e545b004..e2620cd84c8506 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-child-process-set-blocking.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-child-process-set-blocking.js
@@ -25,8 +25,9 @@ const assert = require('assert');
 const ch = require('child_process');
 
 const SIZE = 100000;
+const python = process.env.PYTHON || 'python';
 
-const cp = ch.spawn('python', ['-c', `print(${SIZE} * "C")`], {
+const cp = ch.spawn(python, ['-c', `print(${SIZE} * "C")`], {
   stdio: 'inherit'
 });
 
diff --git a/test/pummel/test-child-process-spawn-loop.js b/test/pummel/test-child-process-spawn-loop.js
index 4dc218161125bf..f9f66ce5803840 100644
--- a/test/pummel/test-child-process-spawn-loop.js
+++ b/test/pummel/test-child-process-spawn-loop.js
@@ -24,13 +24,14 @@ const common = require('../common');
 const assert = require('assert');
 
 const spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
+const python = process.env.PYTHON || 'python';
 
 const SIZE = 1000 * 1024;
 const N = 40;
 let finished = false;
 
 function doSpawn(i) {
-  const child = spawn('python', ['-c', `print(${SIZE} * "C")`]);
+  const child = spawn(python, ['-c', `print(${SIZE} * "C")`]);
   let count = 0;
 
   child.stdout.setEncoding('ascii');