diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0a6f4fcb..92e766be 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ set (CMAKE_SWIG_FLAGS "")
 option (BUILDDOC "Build all doc." OFF)
 option (BUILDSWIG "Build swig modules." ON)
 option (BUILDSWIGPYTHON "Build swig python modules." ON)
+option (BUILDPYTHON3 "Use python3 for building/installing/testing" OFF)
 option (BUILDSWIGNODE "Build swig node modules." ON)
 option (BUILDEXAMPLES "Build C++ example binaries" OFF)
 option (BUILDJAVAEXAMPLES "Build java example jars" OFF)
@@ -210,10 +211,18 @@ if(BUILDJAVAEXAMPLES)
   add_subdirectory (examples/java)
 endif()
 
-if(BUILDTESTS)
-    find_package (PythonInterp REQUIRED)
-    if (${PYTHONINTERP_FOUND})
-        enable_testing ()
-        add_subdirectory (tests)
-    endif ()
+if (BUILDSWIGPYTHON OR BUILDTESTS)
+  if (BUILDPYTHON3)
+    set (PYTHONBUILD_VERSION 3)
+  else ()
+    set (PYTHONBUILD_VERSION 2.7)
+  endif ()
+  find_package (PythonInterp ${PYTHONBUILD_VERSION} REQUIRED)
+  find_package (PythonLibs ${PYTHONBUILD_VERSION} REQUIRED)
+  include_directories(${PYTHON_INCLUDE_PATH})
+endif ()
+
+if (BUILDTESTS)
+  enable_testing ()
+  add_subdirectory (tests)
 endif()
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 1fdda9c2..b4ca943e 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -140,13 +140,7 @@ macro(upm_doxygen)
 endmacro()
 
 if (SWIG_FOUND)
-  if(BUILDSWIGPYTHON)
-    find_package (PythonLibs)
-    string (REPLACE "." ";" PYTHON_VERSION_LIST ${PYTHONLIBS_VERSION_STRING})
-    list (GET PYTHON_VERSION_LIST 0 PYTHON_VERSION_MAJOR)
-    list (GET PYTHON_VERSION_LIST 1 PYTHON_VERSION_MINOR)
-  endif(BUILDSWIGPYTHON)
-  if(BUILDSWIGNODE)
+  if (BUILDSWIGNODE)
     if(NOT NODE_FOUND)
       find_package(Node)
     endif()