diff --git a/bin/python b/bin/python
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1582eba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/python
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+/usr/bin/env python2 $*
diff --git a/nvm.sh b/nvm.sh
index 81920f5..ee4ca53 100755
--- a/nvm.sh
+++ b/nvm.sh
@@ -301,6 +301,9 @@ nvm() {
       elif [ "`curl -Is "http://nodejs.org/dist/node-$VERSION.tar.gz" | \grep '200 OK'`" != '' ]; then
         tarball="http://nodejs.org/dist/node-$VERSION.tar.gz"
       fi
+      # If python2 is available it should be used so that node compilation works on systems
+      # where python3 is the default python.
+      command -v python2 >/dev/null 2>&1 && export PATH=$NVM_DIR/bin:$PATH
       if (
         [ ! -z $tarball ] && \
         mkdir -p "$tmpdir" && \