diff --git a/config/devstack.cfg b/config/devstack.cfg
index 264373fa23..ab7b5e3efa 100644
--- a/config/devstack.cfg
+++ b/config/devstack.cfg
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ task_failed = 30
 scheduling_error = 35
 unhandled_exception = 40
 
+[hadoop]
+python-executable = ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}
+
 [hive]
 release = apache
 version = 1.0
diff --git a/config/docker_test.cfg b/config/docker_test.cfg
index 4fa5943108..d1288a9ab6 100644
--- a/config/docker_test.cfg
+++ b/config/docker_test.cfg
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ task_failed = 30
 scheduling_error = 35
 unhandled_exception = 40
 
+[hadoop]
+python-executable = ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}
+
 [hive]
 release = apache
 version = 1.0
diff --git a/config/luigi_docker.cfg b/config/luigi_docker.cfg
index de6174ec39..c42beabbcd 100644
--- a/config/luigi_docker.cfg
+++ b/config/luigi_docker.cfg
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ task_failed = 30
 scheduling_error = 35
 unhandled_exception = 40
 
+[hadoop]
+python-executable = ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}
+
 [hive]
 release = apache
 version = 1.0
diff --git a/config/test.cfg b/config/test.cfg
index 619e718e46..6dccb96cf3 100644
--- a/config/test.cfg
+++ b/config/test.cfg
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ task_failed = 30
 scheduling_error = 35
 unhandled_exception = 40
 
+[hadoop]
+python-executable = ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}
+
 [hive]
 release = apache
 version = 1.0
diff --git a/edx/analytics/tasks/launchers/remote.py b/edx/analytics/tasks/launchers/remote.py
index e62b90383a..564cb470e3 100755
--- a/edx/analytics/tasks/launchers/remote.py
+++ b/edx/analytics/tasks/launchers/remote.py
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ def run_task_playbook(inventory, arguments, uid):
     if arguments.workflow_profiler:
         env_vars['WORKFLOW_PROFILER'] = arguments.workflow_profiler
         env_vars['WORKFLOW_PROFILER_PATH'] = log_dir
+    if arguments.python_version:
+        env_vars['PYTHON_EXECUTABLE'] = python_version
 
     env_var_string = ' '.join('{0}={1}'.format(k, v) for k, v in env_vars.iteritems())