diff --git a/tools/buildgen/generate_projects.py b/tools/buildgen/generate_projects.py
index 5de06354d1f5746d1e8427c869784891938abc95..db6b5050da61832db2a77518bc1d04a20727c41a 100755
--- a/tools/buildgen/generate_projects.py
+++ b/tools/buildgen/generate_projects.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ for root, dirs, files in os.walk('templates'):
       out = out_dir + '/' + os.path.splitext(f)[0]
       if not os.path.exists(out_dir):
         os.makedirs(out_dir)
-      cmd = ['tools/buildgen/mako_renderer.py']
+      cmd = ['python', 'tools/buildgen/mako_renderer.py']
       for plugin in plugins:
         cmd.append('-p')
         cmd.append(plugin)