diff --git a/Lib/test/test_atexit.py b/Lib/test/test_atexit.py
index ad5bced5092..64c4c3c68d7 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_atexit.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_atexit.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 from test_support import TESTFN, vereq
 import atexit
 import os
+import sys
 
 input = """\
 import atexit
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ def handler2(*args, **kargs):
 f.write(input)
 f.close()
 
-p = os.popen("python " + fname)
+p = os.popen("%s %s" % (sys.executable, fname))
 output = p.read()
 p.close()
 vereq(output, """\
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ def indirect():
 f.write(input)
 f.close()
 
-p = os.popen("python " + fname)
+p = os.popen("%s %s" % (sys.executable, fname))
 output = p.read()
 p.close()
 vereq(output, """\