diff --git a/lib/python/Makefile.lammps b/lib/python/Makefile.lammps
index 4fc7a201f1..8538994694 100644
--- a/lib/python/Makefile.lammps
+++ b/lib/python/Makefile.lammps
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Settings that the LAMMPS build will import when this package library is used
 # See the README file for more explanation
 
-python_SYSINC = 
-python_SYSLIB = 
+python_SYSINC = $(shell which python2-config > /dev/null 2>&1 && python2-config --includes || python-config --includes )
+python_SYSLIB = $(shell which python2-config > /dev/null 2>&1 && python2-config --ldflags || python-config --ldflags)
 python_SYSPATH =