diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d91b9bcf..7dbadae4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ make-binaries:
 	$(MAKE) -C src
 
 make-translations:
-	$(MAKE) -C po
+	$(MAKE) -C po PYTHON=$(PYTHON)
 
 
 # NOTE: We are no longer installing into /usr/sbin directory, because this is
diff --git a/po/Makefile b/po/Makefile
index abb0258d..02a58b08 100644
--- a/po/Makefile
+++ b/po/Makefile
@@ -38,7 +38,11 @@ POTFILES    = $(shell ls ../network-scripts/* | grep -v ifcfg-) \
 all: $(NLSPACKAGE).pot $(FMTCATALOGS)
 
 $(NLSPACKAGE).pot: $(POTFILES)
-	./xgettext_sh.py $(POTFILES) > $(NLSPACKAGE).po
+	if [ -z "$(PYTHON)" ]; then \
+		./xgettext_sh.py $(POTFILES) > $(NLSPACKAGE).po; \
+	else \
+		$(PYTHON) xgettext_sh.py $(POTFILES) > $(NLSPACKAGE).po; \
+	fi
 	if cmp -s $(NLSPACKAGE).po $(NLSPACKAGE).pot; then \
 	    rm -f $(NLSPACKAGE).po; \
 	else \