diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/common.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/common.nix
index 6af302851234..da276be7287c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/common.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/common.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 { version, sha256 }:
 
-{ fetchurl, python3Packages, lib }:
+{ fetchurl, python, lib }:
 
-python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
+python.pkgs.buildPythonApplication rec {
   pname = "scons";
   inherit version;
 
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication rec {
     mv "$out/"*.1 "$out/share/man/man1/"
   '';
 
+  passthru = {
+    # expose the used python version so tools using this (and extensing scos with other python modules)
+    # can use the exact same python version.
+    inherit python;
+  };
+
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "An improved, cross-platform substitute for Make";
     longDescription = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/default.nix
index 4b07eb0501d8..884d7482faf5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/scons/default.nix
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
-{ callPackage, python2Packages }:
+{ callPackage, python2, python3 }:
 
 let
-  mkScons = args: callPackage (import ./common.nix args) { };
+  mkScons = args: callPackage (import ./common.nix args) {
+    python = python3;
+  };
 in {
   scons_3_0_1 = (mkScons {
     version = "3.0.1";
     sha256 = "0wzid419mlwqw9llrg8gsx4nkzhqy16m4m40r0xnh6cwscw5wir4";
-  }).override { python3Packages = python2Packages; };
+  }).override { python = python3; };
   scons_3_1_2 = (mkScons {
     version = "3.1.2";
     sha256 = "1yzq2gg9zwz9rvfn42v5jzl3g4qf1khhny6zfbi2hib55zvg60bq";
-  }).override { python3Packages = python2Packages; };
+  }).override { python = python2; };
   scons_latest = mkScons {
     version = "4.1.0";
     sha256 = "11axk03142ziax6i3wwy9qpqp7r3i7h5jg9y2xzph9i15rv8vlkj";