diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index ad3ab91..0e8bf39 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ frontend: $(INSTALL_PREFIX)/bin/msspec
 
 dist/msspec-$(VERSION).tar.gz: VERSION
 	@echo "Creating Python source distribution..."
-	@python setup.py sdist
+	@$(PYTHON_EXE) setup.py sdist
 
 
 $(INSTALL_PREFIX)/bin/msspec: msspec.sh.template VERSION