diff --git a/nghttp2.spec b/nghttp2.spec
index badc7da..9bc642e 100644
--- a/nghttp2.spec
+++ b/nghttp2.spec
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ BuildRequires: c-ares-devel
 BuildRequires: gcc-c++
 BuildRequires: libev-devel
 BuildRequires: openssl-devel
+BuildRequires: python3-devel
 BuildRequires: systemd-devel
 BuildRequires: zlib-devel
 
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ for building applications with libnghttp2.
 sed -e '1 s|^#!/.*python|&3|' -i script/fetch-ocsp-response
 
 %build
-%configure                                  \
+%configure PYTHON=%{__python3}              \
     --disable-python-bindings               \
     --disable-static                        \
     --without-libxml2                       \
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ make %{?_smp_mflags} check
 
 %changelog
 * Mon Sep 03 2018 Kamil Dudka <kdudka@redhat.com> 1.33.0-1
+- use python3 for build
 - update to the latest upstream release
 
 * Mon Aug 27 2018 Kamil Dudka <kdudka@redhat.com> 1.32.1-1