diff --git a/mail/mailutils/Makefile b/mail/mailutils/Makefile
index bfd9cc61c5af..d398eb72e2c0 100644
--- a/mail/mailutils/Makefile
+++ b/mail/mailutils/Makefile
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ PAM_CONFIGURE_ENABLE=	pam
 PYTHON_BINARY_ALIAS=	python-config=python${PYTHON_VER}-config
 PYTHON_USES=		python:3.0+
 PYTHON_CONFIGURE_ENABLE=python
+PYTHON_CONFIGURE_ENV=	PYTHON_CONFIG=${PYTHON_CMD}-config
 
 BDB_USES=		bdb
 BDB_CONFIGURE_WITH=	berkeley-db