diff --git a/plugins/python-build/bin/python-build b/plugins/python-build/bin/python-build
index 040213f2..8108e9fb 100755
--- a/plugins/python-build/bin/python-build
+++ b/plugins/python-build/bin/python-build
@@ -330,21 +330,22 @@ http() {
   local file="$3"
   [ -n "$url" ] || return 1
 
-  if type aria2c &>/dev/null; then
-    "http_${method}_aria2c" "$url" "$file"
-  elif type curl &>/dev/null; then
-    "http_${method}_curl" "$url" "$file"
-  elif type wget &>/dev/null; then
-    # SSL Certificate error with older wget that does not support Server Name Indication (#60)
-    if [[ "$(wget --version 2>/dev/null || true)" = "GNU Wget 1.1"[0-3]* ]]; then
-      echo "python-build: wget (< 1.14) doesn't support Server Name Indication. Please install curl (>= 7.18.1) and try again" >&2
-      return 1
-    fi
-    "http_${method}_wget" "$url" "$file"
+  local http_client
+  if [ -n "${PYTHON_BUILD_HTTP_CLIENT}" ]; then
+    http_client="http_${method}_${PYTHON_BUILD_HTTP_CLIENT}"
   else
-    echo "error: please install \`aria2c\`, \`curl\` or \`wget\` and try again" >&2
-    exit 1
+    if type aria2c &>/dev/null; then
+      http_client="http_${method}_aria2c"
+    elif type curl &>/dev/null; then
+      http_client="http_${method}_curl"
+    elif type wget &>/dev/null; then
+      http_client="http_${method}_wget"
+    else
+      echo "error: please install \`aria2c\`, \`curl\` or \`wget\` and try again" >&2
+      exit 1
+    fi
   fi
+  "${http_client}" "$url" "$file"
 }
 
 http_head_aria2c() {
@@ -2039,6 +2040,14 @@ ARIA2_OPTS="${PYTHON_BUILD_ARIA2_OPTS} ${IPV4+--disable-ipv6=true} ${IPV6+--disa
 CURL_OPTS="${PYTHON_BUILD_CURL_OPTS} ${IPV4+--ipv4} ${IPV6+--ipv6}"
 WGET_OPTS="${PYTHON_BUILD_WGET_OPTS} ${IPV4+--inet4-only} ${IPV6+--inet6-only}"
 
+if [ -z "${PYTHON_BUILD_HTTP_CLIENT}" ] && ! type aria2c &>/dev/null && ! type curl &>/dev/null; then
+  # SSL Certificate error with older wget that does not support Server Name Indication (#60)
+  if [[ "$(wget --version 2>/dev/null || true)" = "GNU Wget 1.1"[0-3]* ]]; then
+    echo "python-build: wget (< 1.14) doesn't support Server Name Indication. Please install curl (>= 7.18.1) and try again" >&2
+    return 1
+  fi
+fi
+
 # Add an option to build a debug version of Python (#11)
 if [ -n "$DEBUG" ]; then
   package_option python configure --with-pydebug
diff --git a/plugins/python-build/test/build.bats b/plugins/python-build/test/build.bats
index 3526aa27..0b4d1453 100644
--- a/plugins/python-build/test/build.bats
+++ b/plugins/python-build/test/build.bats
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ export CC=cc
 export -n PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS
 
 setup() {
-  ensure_not_found_in_path aria2c
   mkdir -p "$INSTALL_ROOT"
   stub md5 false
   stub curl false
diff --git a/plugins/python-build/test/cache.bats b/plugins/python-build/test/cache.bats
index 88b3f89d..2baef589 100644
--- a/plugins/python-build/test/cache.bats
+++ b/plugins/python-build/test/cache.bats
@@ -3,10 +3,8 @@
 load test_helper
 export PYTHON_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR=1
 export PYTHON_BUILD_CACHE_PATH="$TMP/cache"
-export PYTHON_BUILD_CURL_OPTS=
 
 setup() {
-  ensure_not_found_in_path aria2c
   mkdir "$PYTHON_BUILD_CACHE_PATH"
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/python-build/test/checksum.bats b/plugins/python-build/test/checksum.bats
index 04973a97..f80d5ae2 100644
--- a/plugins/python-build/test/checksum.bats
+++ b/plugins/python-build/test/checksum.bats
@@ -3,11 +3,6 @@
 load test_helper
 export PYTHON_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR=1
 export PYTHON_BUILD_CACHE_PATH=
-export PYTHON_BUILD_CURL_OPTS=
-
-setup() {
-  ensure_not_found_in_path aria2c
-}
 
 
 @test "package URL without checksum" {
diff --git a/plugins/python-build/test/fetch.bats b/plugins/python-build/test/fetch.bats
index c131e688..a2a41759 100644
--- a/plugins/python-build/test/fetch.bats
+++ b/plugins/python-build/test/fetch.bats
@@ -3,10 +3,8 @@
 load test_helper
 export PYTHON_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR=1
 export PYTHON_BUILD_CACHE_PATH=
-export PYTHON_BUILD_ARIA2_OPTS=
 
 setup() {
-  ensure_not_found_in_path aria2c
   export PYTHON_BUILD_BUILD_PATH="${TMP}/source"
   mkdir -p "${PYTHON_BUILD_BUILD_PATH}"
 }
@@ -21,6 +19,8 @@ setup() {
 }
 
 @test "using aria2c if available" {
+  export PYTHON_BUILD_ARIA2_OPTS=
+  export PYTHON_BUILD_HTTP_CLIENT="aria2c"
   stub aria2c "--allow-overwrite=true --no-conf=true -o * http://example.com/* : cp $FIXTURE_ROOT/\${5##*/} \$4"
 
   install_fixture definitions/without-checksum
diff --git a/plugins/python-build/test/mirror.bats b/plugins/python-build/test/mirror.bats
index 038a920a..62ed38c0 100644
--- a/plugins/python-build/test/mirror.bats
+++ b/plugins/python-build/test/mirror.bats
@@ -4,11 +4,6 @@ load test_helper
 export PYTHON_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR=
 export PYTHON_BUILD_CACHE_PATH=
 export PYTHON_BUILD_MIRROR_URL=http://mirror.example.com
-export PYTHON_BUILD_CURL_OPTS=
-
-setup() {
-  ensure_not_found_in_path aria2c
-}
 
 
 @test "package URL without checksum bypasses mirror" {
diff --git a/plugins/python-build/test/pyenv_ext.bats b/plugins/python-build/test/pyenv_ext.bats
index ae9f72ab..5f6d5037 100644
--- a/plugins/python-build/test/pyenv_ext.bats
+++ b/plugins/python-build/test/pyenv_ext.bats
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ export PYTHON_BUILD_CACHE_PATH="$TMP/cache"
 export MAKE=make
 export MAKE_OPTS="-j 2"
 export CC=cc
+export PYTHON_BUILD_HTTP_CLIENT="curl"
 
 export TMP_FIXTURES="$TMP/fixtures"
 
 setup() {
-  ensure_not_found_in_path aria2c
   mkdir -p "$INSTALL_ROOT"
   stub md5 false
   stub curl false
diff --git a/plugins/python-build/test/test_helper.bash b/plugins/python-build/test/test_helper.bash
index 1ad42d58..f959dd19 100644
--- a/plugins/python-build/test/test_helper.bash
+++ b/plugins/python-build/test/test_helper.bash
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 export TMP="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/tmp"
+export RUBY_BUILD_CURL_OPTS=
+export RUBY_BUILD_HTTP_CLIENT="curl"
 
 if [ "$FIXTURE_ROOT" != "$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/fixtures" ]; then
   export FIXTURE_ROOT="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/fixtures"
@@ -9,35 +11,6 @@ if [ "$FIXTURE_ROOT" != "$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/fixtures" ]; then
   export PATH
 fi
 
-remove_command_from_path() {
-  OLDIFS="${IFS}"
-  local cmd="$1"
-  local path
-  local paths=()
-  IFS=:
-  for path in ${PATH}; do
-    if [ -e "${path}/${cmd}" ]; then
-      local tmp_path="$(mktemp -d "${TMP}/path.XXXXX")"
-      ln -fs "${path}"/* "${tmp_path}"
-      rm -f "${tmp_path}/${cmd}"
-      paths["${#paths[@]}"]="${tmp_path}"
-    else
-      paths["${#paths[@]}"]="${path}"
-    fi
-  done
-  export PATH="${paths[*]}"
-  IFS="${OLDIFS}"
-}
-
-ensure_not_found_in_path() {
-  local cmd
-  for cmd; do
-    if command -v "${cmd}" 1>/dev/null 2>&1; then
-      remove_command_from_path "${cmd}"
-    fi
-  done
-}
-
 teardown() {
   rm -fr "${TMP:?}"/*
 }