diff --git a/salt/client/ssh/__init__.py b/salt/client/ssh/__init__.py
index 0df918d63481..d5bc6e5c2755 100644
--- a/salt/client/ssh/__init__.py
+++ b/salt/client/ssh/__init__.py
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
 then SUDO="sudo "
 fi
 EX_PYTHON_INVALID={EX_THIN_PYTHON_INVALID}
-PYTHON_CMDS="python3 python27 python2.7 python26 python2.6 python2 python"
+PYTHON_CMDS="python3 /usr/libexec/platform-python python27 python2.7 python26 python2.6 python2 python"
 for py_cmd in $PYTHON_CMDS
 do
     if command -v "$py_cmd" >/dev/null 2>&1 && "$py_cmd" -c "import sys; sys.exit(not (sys.version_info >= (2, 6)));"