diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8afc8f6e..699f864d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ testsuite: btrfs-corrupt-block fssum
 	$(Q)cd tests && ./export-testsuite.sh
 
 ifeq ($(PYTHON_BINDINGS),1)
-test-libbtrfsutil: libbtrfsutil_python
+test-libbtrfsutil: libbtrfsutil_python mkfs.btrfs
 	$(Q)cd libbtrfsutil/python; \
 		LD_LIBRARY_PATH=../.. $(PYTHON) -m unittest discover -v tests
 
diff --git a/libbtrfsutil/python/tests/__init__.py b/libbtrfsutil/python/tests/__init__.py
index d2c6ff28..35550e0a 100644
--- a/libbtrfsutil/python/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/libbtrfsutil/python/tests/__init__.py
@@ -37,8 +37,12 @@ class BtrfsTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             os.rmdir(self.mountpoint)
             raise e
 
+        if os.path.exists('../../mkfs.btrfs'):
+            mkfs = '../../mkfs.btrfs'
+        else:
+            mkfs = 'mkfs.btrfs'
         try:
-            subprocess.check_call(['mkfs.btrfs', '-q', self.image])
+            subprocess.check_call([mkfs, '-q', self.image])
             subprocess.check_call(['mount', '-o', 'loop', '--', self.image, self.mountpoint])
         except Exception as e:
             os.remove(self.image)