diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 71ae936a0..4ad9274a2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ check:
 
 pytest: $(ALL_PROGRAMS)
 ifndef PYTEST
-	@echo "py.test is required to run the integration tests, please install using 'pip3 install -r tests/requirements.txt'"
+	@echo "py.test is required to run the integration tests, please install using 'pip3 install -r tests/requirements.txt', and rerun 'configure'."
 	exit 1
 else
 # Explicitly hand DEVELOPER and VALGRIND so you can override on make cmd line.
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 3e6739fcc..eb43b59bf 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -71,6 +71,17 @@ find_pytest()
 	    return
 	fi
     done
+
+    PYTHON_BINS="python python3"
+    for p in $PYTHON_BINS; do
+        if [ "$(which $p)" != "" ] ; then
+            $p --version 2>&1 | grep -q "Python 3." || continue
+            if $p -c "import pytest" ; then
+                echo "$p -m pytest"
+                return
+            fi
+        fi
+    done
 }
 
 PYTEST=${PYTEST:-`find_pytest`}