diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 97b0c5777..261c23230 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -159,11 +159,10 @@ script:
   - cd ..
 
 # run through autotools and ./configure to make sure it works
-# TODO: --enable-python-bindings
   - 'if [[ "$autotools" == "1" ]]; then
       ./autotool.sh &&
       export CXX=g++-5 &&
-      ./configure --enable-debug --enable-encryption --enable-examples --enable-tests &&
+      ./configure --enable-debug --enable-encryption --enable-examples --enable-tests --enable-python-binding &&
       make -j2 check;
     fi'
 
diff --git a/bindings/python/setup.py b/bindings/python/setup.py
index e7dc06c9c..f42ee59f5 100644
--- a/bindings/python/setup.py
+++ b/bindings/python/setup.py
@@ -112,6 +112,10 @@ else:
 		extra_link = flags.parse(ldflags)
 		extra_compile = flags.parse(extra_cmd)
 
+		# for some reason distutils uses the CC environment variable to determine
+		# the compiler to use for C++
+		os.environ["CC"] = os.environ['CXX']
+
 		ext = [Extension('libtorrent',
 			sources = source_list,
 			language='c++',