diff --git a/build_and_release.sh b/build_and_release.sh
index 1bdbf26d..d3584f65 100755
--- a/build_and_release.sh
+++ b/build_and_release.sh
@@ -158,11 +158,8 @@ tools_to_show_versions=(
   autoreconf
   cmake
   pkg-config
-  python3
-  python3.9
-  python
+  "${PYTHON:-python3}"
 )
-echo "path: $PATH"
 
 if [[ $OSTYPE == darwin* ]]; then
   tools_to_show_versions+=( shasum )
diff --git a/build_thirdparty.sh b/build_thirdparty.sh
index ea578573..c30d74c1 100755
--- a/build_thirdparty.sh
+++ b/build_thirdparty.sh
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ echo
 echo "Logging to ${log_path} (linked to ${link_path_list_str})"
 echo
 
-cmd=( ${PYTHON:-python3}
+cmd=( "${PYTHON:-python3}"
       "${YB_THIRDPARTY_DIR}/python/yugabyte_db_thirdparty/yb_build_thirdparty_main.py" )
 if [[ ${#build_thirdparty_args[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
   cmd+=( "${build_thirdparty_args[@]}" )
diff --git a/yb-thirdparty-common.sh b/yb-thirdparty-common.sh
index a55afa14..7520a145 100644
--- a/yb-thirdparty-common.sh
+++ b/yb-thirdparty-common.sh
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ compute_sha256sum() {
 
 activate_virtualenv() {
   if [[ ! -d $YB_THIRDPARTY_DIR/venv ]]; then
-    ${PYTHON:-python3} -m venv "$YB_THIRDPARTY_DIR/venv"
+    "${PYTHON:-python3}" -m venv "$YB_THIRDPARTY_DIR/venv"
   fi
   set +u
   # shellcheck disable=SC1090