diff --git a/airflow/utils/python_virtualenv.py b/airflow/utils/python_virtualenv.py
index 2da609690da1c..9344c6a3d647c 100644
--- a/airflow/utils/python_virtualenv.py
+++ b/airflow/utils/python_virtualenv.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #
 """Utilities for creating a virtual environment"""
 import os
+import sys
 from collections import deque
 from typing import List, Optional
 
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@
 
 
 def _generate_virtualenv_cmd(tmp_dir: str, python_bin: str, system_site_packages: bool) -> List[str]:
-    cmd = ['virtualenv', tmp_dir]
+    cmd = [sys.executable, '-m', 'virtualenv', tmp_dir]
     if system_site_packages:
         cmd.append('--system-site-packages')
     if python_bin is not None:
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_python_virtualenv.py b/tests/utils/test_python_virtualenv.py
index 01ff8803c4151..dc4ee7aa8153f 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_python_virtualenv.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_python_virtualenv.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 # specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 #
+import sys
 import unittest
 from unittest import mock
 
@@ -29,7 +30,9 @@ def test_should_create_virtualenv(self, mock_execute_in_subprocess):
             venv_directory="/VENV", python_bin="pythonVER", system_site_packages=False, requirements=[]
         )
         assert "/VENV/bin/python" == python_bin
-        mock_execute_in_subprocess.assert_called_once_with(['virtualenv', '/VENV', '--python=pythonVER'])
+        mock_execute_in_subprocess.assert_called_once_with(
+            [sys.executable, '-m', 'virtualenv', '/VENV', '--python=pythonVER']
+        )
 
     @mock.patch('airflow.utils.python_virtualenv.execute_in_subprocess')
     def test_should_create_virtualenv_with_system_packages(self, mock_execute_in_subprocess):
@@ -38,7 +41,7 @@ def test_should_create_virtualenv_with_system_packages(self, mock_execute_in_sub
         )
         assert "/VENV/bin/python" == python_bin
         mock_execute_in_subprocess.assert_called_once_with(
-            ['virtualenv', '/VENV', '--system-site-packages', '--python=pythonVER']
+            [sys.executable, '-m', 'virtualenv', '/VENV', '--system-site-packages', '--python=pythonVER']
         )
 
     @mock.patch('airflow.utils.python_virtualenv.execute_in_subprocess')
@@ -51,7 +54,9 @@ def test_should_create_virtualenv_with_extra_packages(self, mock_execute_in_subp
         )
         assert "/VENV/bin/python" == python_bin
 
-        mock_execute_in_subprocess.assert_any_call(['virtualenv', '/VENV', '--python=pythonVER'])
+        mock_execute_in_subprocess.assert_any_call(
+            [sys.executable, '-m', 'virtualenv', '/VENV', '--python=pythonVER']
+        )
 
         mock_execute_in_subprocess.assert_called_with(['/VENV/bin/pip', 'install', 'apache-beam[gcp]'])