diff --git a/doc/Makefile b/doc/Makefile
--- a/doc/Makefile
+++ b/doc/Makefile
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ HTML=$(SOURCES:%.txt=%.html)
 PREFIX=/usr/local
 MANDIR=$(PREFIX)/share/man
 INSTALL=install -c
+PYTHON=python
 
 all: man html
 
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ hg.1.txt: hg.1.gendoc.txt
 	touch hg.1.txt
 
 hg.1.gendoc.txt: ../mercurial/commands.py ../mercurial/help.py
-	python gendoc.py > $@
+	${PYTHON} gendoc.py > $@
 
 %: %.xml
 	xmlto man $*.xml ; \