diff --git a/pyperformance/cli.py b/pyperformance/cli.py
index dbfe4645..8c7ca310 100644
--- a/pyperformance/cli.py
+++ b/pyperformance/cli.py
@@ -167,13 +167,13 @@ def parse_args():
     if hasattr(options, 'python'):
         # Replace "~" with the user home directory
         options.python = os.path.expanduser(options.python)
-        # Try to the absolute path to the binary
-        abs_python = shutil.which(options.python)
+        # Try to get the absolute path to the binary
+        abs_python = os.path.abspath(options.python)
         if not abs_python:
             print("ERROR: Unable to locate the Python executable: %r" %
                   options.python)
             sys.exit(1)
-        options.python = os.path.realpath(abs_python)
+        options.python = abs_python
 
     return (parser, options)
 
diff --git a/pyperformance/cli_run.py b/pyperformance/cli_run.py
index c5009e28..a760c877 100644
--- a/pyperformance/cli_run.py
+++ b/pyperformance/cli_run.py
@@ -26,11 +26,15 @@ def cmd_run(parser, options):
         print("ERROR: the output file %s already exists!" % options.output)
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    if not os.path.isabs(sys.executable):
-        print("ERROR: sys.executable is not an absolute path")
+    if hasattr(options, 'python'):
+        executable = options.python
+    else:
+        executable = sys.executable
+    if not os.path.isabs(executable):
+        print("ERROR: \"%s\" is not an absolute path" % executable)
         sys.exit(1)
     bench_funcs, bench_groups, should_run = get_benchmarks_to_run(options)
-    cmd_prefix = [sys.executable]
+    cmd_prefix = [executable]
     suite, errors = run_benchmarks(bench_funcs, should_run, cmd_prefix, options)
 
     if not suite: