diff --git a/python.sh b/python.sh
index 67c448b288..5a31a43960 100644
--- a/python.sh
+++ b/python.sh
@@ -18,13 +18,27 @@ env:
   PYTHONPATH: "$PYTHON_ROOT/lib/python/site-packages"
 prefer_system: "(?!slc5|ubuntu)"
 prefer_system_check: |
-    case $ALIBUILD_ARCHITECTURE in
-        osx*)
-            python3 -c 'from sys import version_info; print(f"alibuild_system_replace: python-brew{version_info.major}.{version_info.minor}")' ;;
-        *)
-            python3 -c 'from sys import version_info; print(f"alibuild_system_replace: python{version_info.major}.{version_info.minor}")'
-        ;;
-    esac
+    MIN_ALIBUILD_VERSION_REGEX="v1.17.12"
+    if [[ $(printf '%s\n' "$ALIBUILD_VERSION" "$MIN_ALIBUILD_VERSION_REGEX" | sort -V | head -n 1) == "$ALIBUILD_VERSION" && "$ALIBUILD_VERSION" != "$MIN_ALIBUILD_VERSION_REGEX" ]]; then
+        # Workaround to support old alibuild versions that don't regex match alibuild_system_replace
+        case $ALIBUILD_ARCHITECTURE in
+            osx*)
+                python3 -c 'from sys import version_info; print(f"alibuild_system_replace: python-brew3")' ;;
+            *)
+                python3 -c 'from sys import version_info; print(f"alibuild_system_replace: python3")'
+            ;;
+        esac
+    else
+        case $ALIBUILD_ARCHITECTURE in
+            osx*)
+                python3 -c 'from sys import version_info; print(f"alibuild_system_replace: python-brew{version_info.major}.{version_info.minor}")' ;;
+            *)
+                python3 -c 'from sys import version_info; print(f"alibuild_system_replace: python{version_info.major}.{version_info.minor}")'
+            ;;
+        esac
+    fi
+
+
     python3 -c 'import sys; import sqlite3; sys.exit(1 if sys.version_info < (3, 9) or sys.version_info > (3, 13) else 0)' && python3 -m pip --help > /dev/null && printf '#include "pyconfig.h"' | cc -c $(python3-config --includes) -xc -o /dev/null -; if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then printf "Python, the Python development packages, and pip must be installed on your system.\nUsually those packages are called python, python-devel (or python-dev) and python-pip.\n"; exit 1; fi
 prefer_system_replacement_specs:
   "python-brew3.*":
@@ -35,6 +49,16 @@ prefer_system_replacement_specs:
     env:
         PYTHON_ROOT: ""
         PYTHON_REVISION: ""
+
+  # Workaround to support old alibuild versions that don't regex match alibuild_system_replace
+  "python-brew3":
+    env:
+        PYTHON_ROOT: $(brew --prefix python3)
+        PYTHON_REVISION: ""
+  "python3":
+    env:
+        PYTHON_ROOT: ""
+        PYTHON_REVISION: ""
 ---
 rsync -av --exclude '**/.git' $SOURCEDIR/ $BUILDDIR/