diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index f517107f0..f2945cc10 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ bool CmdLineParser::parseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
             else if (std::strncmp(argv[i], "--addon=", 8) == 0)
                 mSettings->addons.emplace_back(argv[i]+8);
 
+            else if (std::strncmp(argv[i],"--addon-python=", 15) == 0)
+                mSettings->addonPython.assign(argv[i]+15);
+
             else if (std::strcmp(argv[i], "--clang") == 0)
                 mSettings->clang = true;
 
@@ -973,6 +976,9 @@ void CmdLineParser::printHelp()
               "Options:\n"
               "    --addon=<addon>\n"
               "                         Execute addon. i.e. cert.\n"
+              "    --addon-python=<python interpreter>\n"
+              "                         Use this python interpreter to run addons\n"
+              "                         If not present, defaults to \"python\"\n"
               "    --cppcheck-build-dir=<dir>\n"
               "                         Analysis output directory. Useful for various data.\n"
               "                         Some possible usages are; whole program analysis,\n"
diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.cpp b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
index 9beb2f084..54e279deb 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.cpp
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ namespace {
         std::string name;
         std::string scriptFile;
         std::string args;
+        std::string python;
 
         static std::string getFullPath(const std::string &fileName, const std::string &exename) {
             if (Path::fileExists(fileName))
@@ -131,16 +132,36 @@ namespace {
                     args += " " + v.get<std::string>();
             }
 
+            if(obj.count("python")) {
+                // Python was defined in the config file
+                if (obj["python"].is<picojson::array>()){
+                    return "Loading " + fileName +" failed. python must not be an array.";
+                }
+                python = obj["python"].get<std::string>();
+            }
+            else{
+                python = "";
+            }
+
             return getAddonInfo(obj["script"].get<std::string>(), exename);
         }
     };
 }
 
-static std::string executeAddon(const AddonInfo &addonInfo, const std::string &dumpFile)
-{
+static std::string executeAddon(const AddonInfo &addonInfo,
+                                const std::string &defaultPythonExe,
+                                const std::string &dumpFile) {
+
+    std::string pythonExe = (addonInfo.python != "") ? addonInfo.python : defaultPythonExe;
+
+    if(pythonExe.find(" ") != std::string::npos){
+        // popen strips the first quote. Needs 2 sets to fully quote.
+        pythonExe = "\"\"" + pythonExe + "\"\"";
+    }
+
     // Can python be executed?
     {
-        const std::string cmd = "python --version 2>&1";
+        const std::string cmd = pythonExe + " --version 2>&1";
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
         std::unique_ptr<FILE, decltype(&_pclose)> pipe(_popen(cmd.c_str(), "r"), _pclose);
@@ -157,7 +178,7 @@ static std::string executeAddon(const AddonInfo &addonInfo, const std::string &d
             throw InternalError(nullptr, "Failed to execute '" + cmd + "' (" + result + ")");
     }
 
-    const std::string cmd = "python \"" + addonInfo.scriptFile + "\" --cli" + addonInfo.args + " \"" + dumpFile + "\" 2>&1";
+    const std::string cmd = pythonExe + " \"" + addonInfo.scriptFile + "\" --cli" + addonInfo.args + " \"" + dumpFile + "\" 2>&1";
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
     std::unique_ptr<FILE, decltype(&_pclose)> pipe(_popen(cmd.c_str(), "r"), _pclose);
@@ -778,7 +799,8 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::checkFile(const std::string& filename, const std::string
                     mExitCode = 1;
                     continue;
                 }
-                const std::string results = executeAddon(addonInfo, dumpFile);
+                const std::string results =
+                    executeAddon(addonInfo, mSettings.addonPython, dumpFile);
                 std::istringstream istr(results);
                 std::string line;
 
diff --git a/lib/settings.cpp b/lib/settings.cpp
index b48158771..364392a47 100644
--- a/lib/settings.cpp
+++ b/lib/settings.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ const char Settings::SafeChecks::XmlExternalVariables[] = "external-variables";
 
 Settings::Settings()
     : mEnabled(0),
+      addonPython("python"),
       checkConfiguration(false),
       checkLibrary(false),
       checkHeaders(true),
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
index 8cc9eafa4..ed357958f 100644
--- a/lib/settings.h
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ public:
 
     std::list<std::string> addons;
 
+    /** @brief Path to the python interpreter to be used to run addons. */
+    std::string addonPython;
+
     /** @brief Paths used as base for conversion to relative paths. */
     std::vector<std::string> basePaths;