diff --git a/gnu/packages/python.scm b/gnu/packages/python.scm
index 41b9bd7986..470bad84ff 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/python.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/python.scm
@@ -8855,7 +8855,8 @@ (define-public python2-bz2file
       (native-inputs
        `(("python2-setuptools" ,python2-setuptools)))
       (arguments
-       `(#:phases
+       `(#:python ,python-2
+         #:phases
          (modify-phases %standard-phases
            ;; 'python setup.py test' does not work as of 0.98.
            ;; There is only the one test file, so we run it directly.