diff --git a/mono/mini/Makefile.am.in b/mono/mini/Makefile.am.in
index 65399906806..4538c5ba428 100755
--- a/mono/mini/Makefile.am.in
+++ b/mono/mini/Makefile.am.in
@@ -775,7 +775,7 @@ MemoryIntrinsics.dll: MemoryIntrinsics.il
 
 GENMDESC_OPTS=
 
-GENMDESC_PRG=python $(srcdir)/genmdesc.py $(target_define) $(srcdir)
+GENMDESC_PRG=python3 $(srcdir)/genmdesc.py $(target_define) $(srcdir)
 
 cpu-wasm.h: mini-ops.h cpu-wasm.md
 	$(GENMDESC_PRG) cpu-wasm.h wasm_desc $(srcdir)/cpu-wasm.md