diff -r 64ed56fbc5e7 Misc/NEWS
--- a/Misc/NEWS	Sat Jun 25 03:06:58 2016 +0000
+++ b/Misc/NEWS	Fri Jul 01 20:06:21 2016 +0200
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@
 Build
 -----
 
+- Issue #27434: The interpreter that runs the cross-build, found in PATH, must
+  now be of the same feature version (e.g. 3.6) as the source being built.
+
 - Issue #26930: Update Windows builds to use OpenSSL 1.0.2h.
 
 - Issue #23968: Rename the platform directory from plat-$(MACHDEP) to
diff -r 64ed56fbc5e7 configure
--- a/configure	Sat Jun 25 03:06:58 2016 +0000
+++ b/configure	Fri Jul 01 20:06:21 2016 +0200
@@ -777,7 +777,6 @@
 docdir
 oldincludedir
 includedir
-runstatedir
 localstatedir
 sharedstatedir
 sysconfdir
@@ -888,7 +887,6 @@
 sysconfdir='${prefix}/etc'
 sharedstatedir='${prefix}/com'
 localstatedir='${prefix}/var'
-runstatedir='${localstatedir}/run'
 includedir='${prefix}/include'
 oldincludedir='/usr/include'
 docdir='${datarootdir}/doc/${PACKAGE_TARNAME}'
@@ -1141,15 +1139,6 @@
   | -silent | --silent | --silen | --sile | --sil)
     silent=yes ;;
 
-  -runstatedir | --runstatedir | --runstatedi | --runstated \
-  | --runstate | --runstat | --runsta | --runst | --runs \
-  | --run | --ru | --r)
-    ac_prev=runstatedir ;;
-  -runstatedir=* | --runstatedir=* | --runstatedi=* | --runstated=* \
-  | --runstate=* | --runstat=* | --runsta=* | --runst=* | --runs=* \
-  | --run=* | --ru=* | --r=*)
-    runstatedir=$ac_optarg ;;
-
   -sbindir | --sbindir | --sbindi | --sbind | --sbin | --sbi | --sb)
     ac_prev=sbindir ;;
   -sbindir=* | --sbindir=* | --sbindi=* | --sbind=* | --sbin=* \
@@ -1287,7 +1276,7 @@
 for ac_var in	exec_prefix prefix bindir sbindir libexecdir datarootdir \
 		datadir sysconfdir sharedstatedir localstatedir includedir \
 		oldincludedir docdir infodir htmldir dvidir pdfdir psdir \
-		libdir localedir mandir runstatedir
+		libdir localedir mandir
 do
   eval ac_val=\$$ac_var
   # Remove trailing slashes.
@@ -1440,7 +1429,6 @@
   --sysconfdir=DIR        read-only single-machine data [PREFIX/etc]
   --sharedstatedir=DIR    modifiable architecture-independent data [PREFIX/com]
   --localstatedir=DIR     modifiable single-machine data [PREFIX/var]
-  --runstatedir=DIR       modifiable per-process data [LOCALSTATEDIR/run]
   --libdir=DIR            object code libraries [EPREFIX/lib]
   --includedir=DIR        C header files [PREFIX/include]
   --oldincludedir=DIR     C header files for non-gcc [/usr/include]
@@ -3002,7 +2990,7 @@
     if test -z "$PYTHON_FOR_BUILD"; then
         for interp in python$PACKAGE_VERSION python3 python; do
 	    which $interp >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
-	    if $interp -c 'import sys;sys.exit(not sys.version_info[:2] >= (3,3))'; then
+	    if $interp -c "import sys;sys.exit(not '.'.join(str(n) for n in sys.version_info[:2]) == '$PACKAGE_VERSION')"; then
 	        break
 	    fi
             interp=
diff -r 64ed56fbc5e7 configure.ac
--- a/configure.ac	Sat Jun 25 03:06:58 2016 +0000
+++ b/configure.ac	Fri Jul 01 20:06:21 2016 +0200
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
     if test -z "$PYTHON_FOR_BUILD"; then
         for interp in python$PACKAGE_VERSION python3 python; do
 	    which $interp >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
-	    if $interp -c 'import sys;sys.exit(not sys.version_info@<:@:2@:>@ >= (3,3))'; then
+	    if $interp -c "import sys;sys.exit(not '.'.join(str(n) for n in sys.version_info@<:@:2@:>@) == '$PACKAGE_VERSION')"; then
 	        break
 	    fi
             interp=