diff --git a/lib/utils/lifecycle.js b/lib/utils/lifecycle.js
index 9805a1c0c1d..a1b8ebcb81f 100644
--- a/lib/utils/lifecycle.js
+++ b/lib/utils/lifecycle.js
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ function lifecycle_ (pkg, stage, wd, env, unsafe, failOk, cb) {
   // the bundled one will be used for installing things.
   pathArr.unshift(path.join(__dirname, "..", "..", "bin", "node-gyp-bin"))
 
+  // prefer current node interpreter in child scripts
+  pathArr.push(path.dirname(process.execPath))
+
   if (env[PATH]) pathArr.push(env[PATH])
   env[PATH] = pathArr.join(process.platform === "win32" ? ";" : ":")
 
diff --git a/test/tap/lifecycle-path.js b/test/tap/lifecycle-path.js
index fae6fcc83f7..39761b48d75 100644
--- a/test/tap/lifecycle-path.js
+++ b/test/tap/lifecycle-path.js
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@ test('make sure the path is correct', function (t) {
     // get the ones we tacked on, then the system-specific requirements
     var expect = [
       '{{ROOT}}/bin/node-gyp-bin',
-      '{{ROOT}}/test/tap/lifecycle-path/node_modules/.bin'
+      '{{ROOT}}/test/tap/lifecycle-path/node_modules/.bin',
+      path.dirname(process.execPath)
     ].concat(PATH.split(pathSplit).map(function (p) {
       return p.replace(/\\/g, '/')
     }))