diff --git a/src/SConscript b/src/SConscript
index 7ab26d7384..e186022146 100644
--- a/src/SConscript
+++ b/src/SConscript
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ build_tools = Dir('#build_tools')
 # Build a small helper that runs Python code using the same version of Python
 # as gem5. This is in an unorthodox location to avoid building it for every
 # variant.
+gem5py_env = gem5py_env.Clone()
 gem5py = gem5py_env.Program('gem5py', 'python/gem5py.cc')[0]
 gem5py_env['GEM5PY'] = gem5py
 # Inject build_tools into PYTHONPATH for when we run gem5py.