diff --git a/test/test-lib.bash b/test/test-lib.bash
index affb5c9..008c2f8 100644
--- a/test/test-lib.bash
+++ b/test/test-lib.bash
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 DEBUG=${DEBUG:-false}
 USE_VAGRANT=${USE_VAGRANT:-true}
-DOTBOT_EXEC=${DOTBOT_EXEC:-"/dotbot/bin/dotbot"}
+if ${USE_VAGRANT}; then
+    DOTBOT_EXEC=${DOTBOT_EXEC:-"python /dotbot/bin/dotbot"}
+else
+    DOTBOT_EXEC=${DOTBOT_EXEC:-"/dotbot/bin/dotbot"}
+fi
 DOTFILES="/home/$(whoami)/dotfiles"
 INSTALL_CONF='install.conf.yaml'
 INSTALL_CONF_JSON='install.conf.json'
diff --git a/test/tests/find-python-executable.bash b/test/tests/find-python-executable.bash
index cc46724..d4fa7eb 100644
--- a/test/tests/find-python-executable.bash
+++ b/test/tests/find-python-executable.bash
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 test_description='can find python executable with different names'
 . '../test-lib.bash'
 
+if ${USE_VAGRANT}; then
+    DOTBOT_EXEC="/dotbot/bin/dotbot" # revert to calling it as a shell script
+fi
+
 # the test machine needs to have a binary named `python`
 test_expect_success 'setup' '
 mkdir ~/tmp_bin &&
@@ -26,7 +30,7 @@ test_expect_success 'setup 2' '
 touch ~/tmp_bin/python &&
 chmod +x ~/tmp_bin/python &&
 cat >> ~/tmp_bin/python <<EOF
-#!$HOME/tmp_bin/sh
+#!$HOME/tmp_bin/bash
 exec $(which python)
 EOF
 '