diff --git a/tests/syntax-tests/update.sh b/tests/syntax-tests/update.sh
index 1a5564e7..7ce66588 100644
--- a/tests/syntax-tests/update.sh
+++ b/tests/syntax-tests/update.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-python create_highlighted_versions.py -O highlighted
+python="python3"
+if ! command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then python="python"; fi
+"$python" create_highlighted_versions.py -O highlighted