diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9c2159a..c293b69 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -98,7 +98,12 @@ PKG_CHECK_MODULES(JANSSON, [jansson >= $JANSSON_REQUIRED])
 AC_SUBST(JANSSON_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(JANSSON_LIBS)
 
-AM_PATH_PYTHON([3.5])
+if test "$bwin32" = "true" -o "$bmac" = "yes"; then
+   AM_PATH_PYTHON([2.7])
+else
+   AM_PATH_PYTHON([3.5])
+fi
+
 if test "$bwin32" = true; then
    if test x$PYTHON_DIR != x; then
    # set pyexecdir to somewhere like /c/Python26/Lib/site-packages