diff --git a/index.ts b/index.ts
index c91f7f7..b1c50ec 100644
--- a/index.ts
+++ b/index.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ export class PythonShell extends EventEmitter{
 
     // starting 2020 python2 is deprecated so we choose 3 as default
     // except for windows which just has "python" command
-    static defaultPythonPath = process.platform != "win32" ? "python3" : "python";
+    static defaultPythonPath = process.platform != "win32" ? "python3" : "py";
 
     static defaultOptions:Options = {}; //allow global overrides for options