diff --git a/node.c b/node.c
index 303c627..ef320ee 100644
--- a/node.c
+++ b/node.c
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBALTERNATIVES_H
+#include <libalternatives.h>
+#endif
+
 const unsigned min_version = 4;
 const unsigned max_version = 42;
 const char *default_version = "-default";
@@ -62,6 +66,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		printInvalidVersion(version);
 	}
 
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBALTERNATIVES_H
+	// if we want default version and not using update-alternatives
+	if (version == default_version)
+	{
+		return execDefault(argv);
+	}
+#endif
+
 	/* Generate our program path and check that we can execute it */
 	char *program_path, *program;
 	if (asprintf(&program, "%s%s", *bn, version) == -1 ||
diff --git a/nodejs-common.spec b/nodejs-common.spec
index d7ac546..9b9f571 100644
--- a/nodejs-common.spec
+++ b/nodejs-common.spec
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 %define NODEJS_LTS      16
 %define NODEJS_CURRENT  16
 
+%bcond_with libalternatives
+
 # SLE-12 variants
 %if 0%{?suse_version} < 1500
 %define default_node_ver %NODEJS_LTS
@@ -78,6 +80,10 @@ Conflicts:      nodejs6 < 6.11.1
 Conflicts:      nodejs7 < 7.10.1
 Conflicts:      nodejs8 < 8.1.4
 BuildRequires:  gcc
+%if %{with libalternatives}
+BuildRequires:  libalternatives-devel
+%define libalternatives_flags -DHAVE_LIBALTERNATIVES_H -lalternatives
+%endif
 
 %description
 Common NodeJS files that allow recursive invocation of Node executable
@@ -120,7 +126,7 @@ the current architecture and codestream.
 %prep
 %build
 cp %{S:2} .
-gcc ${RPM_OPT_FLAGS} -o node %{S:1}
+gcc ${RPM_OPT_FLAGS} %?libalternatives_flags -o node %{S:1}
 
 echo "Default Node version: " %{default_node_ver}