--- a/Modules/FindPythonInterp.cmake
+++ b/Modules/FindPythonInterp.cmake
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@
 else()
     set(_PYTHON_FIND_OTHER_VERSIONS ${_PYTHON3_VERSIONS} ${_PYTHON2_VERSIONS} ${_PYTHON1_VERSIONS})
 endif()
+
+if (CMAKE_GENTOO_BUILD OR CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL Gentoo)
+    set(_Python_NAMES python)
+endif()
+
 find_program(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE NAMES ${_Python_NAMES})
 
 # Set up the versions we know about, in the order we will search. Always add
@@ -99,12 +104,13 @@
 unset(_PYTHON3_VERSIONS)
 
 # Search for newest python version if python executable isn't found
-if(NOT PYTHON_EXECUTABLE)
+if(NOT PYTHON_EXECUTABLE AND NOT (CMAKE_GENTOO_BUILD OR CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL Gentoo))
     foreach(_CURRENT_VERSION IN LISTS _Python_VERSIONS)
       set(_Python_NAMES python${_CURRENT_VERSION})
       if(WIN32)
         list(APPEND _Python_NAMES python)
       endif()
+
       find_program(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE
         NAMES ${_Python_NAMES}
         PATHS [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Python\\PythonCore\\${_CURRENT_VERSION}\\InstallPath]