diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/bdist.py b/Lib/distutils/command/bdist.py
index cde8dd63e82..01b4e162d36 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/bdist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/bdist.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def run (self):
                   "invalid archive format '%s'" % self.format
 
         sub_cmd = self.find_peer (cmd_name)
-        sub_cmd.set_option ('format', self.format)
+        sub_cmd.format = self.format
         self.run_peer (cmd_name)
 
     # run()
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/install_lib.py b/Lib/distutils/command/install_lib.py
index 5740c5eed2f..852e3f63a2c 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/install_lib.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/install_lib.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ def _mutate_outputs (self, has_any, build_cmd, cmd_option, output_dir):
 
         build_cmd = self.find_peer (build_cmd)
         build_files = build_cmd.get_outputs()
-        build_dir = build_cmd.get_option (cmd_option)
+        build_dir = getattr (build_cmd, cmd_option)
 
         prefix_len = len (build_dir) + len (os.sep)
         outputs = []