diff --git a/common.gypi b/common.gypi
index 20acf954bc02d4..9fe0a8a9a7bdb5 100644
--- a/common.gypi
+++ b/common.gypi
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@
             ],
           }, {                                             # else it's `AIX`
             'variables': {
-              'gcc_major': '<!(<(python) -c "import os; import subprocess; CXX=os.environ.get(\'CXX\', \'g++\'); subprocess.run([CXX, \'-dumpversion\'])")'
+              'gcc_major': '<!(sh -c "${CXX:-g++} -dumpversion")'
             },
             # Disable the following compiler warning:
             #