diff --git a/itstool.changes b/itstool.changes
index e40fdbb..87deed2 100644
--- a/itstool.changes
+++ b/itstool.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Thu Apr 11 10:45:34 UTC 2024 - pgajdos@suse.com
+
+- remove dependency on /usr/bin/python3 [bsc#1212476]
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Sat Oct 16 17:40:49 UTC 2021 - Dirk Müller <dmueller@suse.com>
 
diff --git a/itstool.spec b/itstool.spec
index 6b17fee..daeb3ac 100644
--- a/itstool.spec
+++ b/itstool.spec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #
 # spec file for package itstool
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2021 SUSE LLC
+# Copyright (c) 2024 SUSE LLC
 #
 # All modifications and additions to the file contributed by third parties
 # remain the property of their copyright owners, unless otherwise agreed
@@ -41,16 +41,15 @@ what to translate and how to chunk it into messages using the W3C
 Internationalization Tag Set (ITS).
 
 %prep
-%setup -q
+%autosetup -p1
 
 %build
-sed -i -e "/^echo.*import/s/python/python3/" configure
-export PYTHON=%{_bindir}/python3
+export PYTHON=$(realpath %{_bindir}/python3)
 %configure
 %make_build
 
 %install
-%make_install PYTHON=%{_bindir}/python3
+%make_install PYTHON=$(realpath %{_bindir}/python3)
 
 %files
 %license COPYING