diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
index 3538f901d46..ebd9dba1ce3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
@@ -193,6 +193,9 @@ let
 
       buildInputs = [ python ] ++ deps;
 
+      # We need to set this for python.buildEnv
+      pythonPath = [];
+
       inherit (mkPaths buildInputs) C_INCLUDE_PATH LIBRARY_PATH;
 
       # non-python gdbm has a libintl dependency on i686-cygwin, not on x86_64-cygwin