diff --git a/src/config/makefile.h b/src/config/makefile.h
index 082ab0dba0..c544fa7760 100644
--- a/src/config/makefile.h
+++ b/src/config/makefile.h
@@ -1322,7 +1322,8 @@ ifeq ($(BUILDING_PYTHON),python)
 #   EXTRA_LIBS += -L/home/edo/tcltk/lib/LINUX -ltk8.3 -ltcl8.3 -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11 -ldl
 # needed if python was built with pthread support
   ifneq ($(GOTMINGW32),1)
-   PYMAJOR = $(echo $PYTHONVERSION | cut -d. -f1)
+   PYMAJOR:=$(word 1, $(subst ., ,$(PYTHONVERSION)))
+   $(error pyversion is $(echo $PYTHONVERSION | cut -d. -f1))
    ifeq (${PYMAJOR},3)
    EXTRA_LIBS += $(shell $(PYTHONHOME)/bin/python3-config --libs)  -lnwcutil
    else
@@ -2404,7 +2405,8 @@ ifeq ($(_CPU),$(findstring $(_CPU), ppc64 ppc64le))
 
      ifeq ($(BUILDING_PYTHON),python)
 #   EXTRA_LIBS += -ltk -ltcl -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11 -ldl
-   PYMAJOR = $(echo $PYTHONVERSION | cut -d. -f1)
+   PYMAJOR:=$(word 1, $(subst ., ,$(PYTHONVERSION)))
+   $(error pyversion is ${PYMAJOR})
    ifeq (${PYMAJOR},3)
    EXTRA_LIBS += -lnwcutil $(shell $(PYTHONHOME)/bin/python3-config --libs) #-lz
    else
@@ -2586,7 +2588,7 @@ $(error )
 endif
 #
 ifdef USE_PYTHONCONFIG
-PYMAJOR = $(echo $PYTHONVERSION | cut -d. -f1)
+PYMAJOR:=$(word 1, $(subst ., ,$(PYTHONVERSION)))
 ifeq (${PYMAJOR},3)
 EXTRA_LIBS += $(shell $(PYTHONHOME)/bin/python3-config --ldflags)
 else
diff --git a/src/python/GNUmakefile b/src/python/GNUmakefile
index 2c07c335c9..3368978e23 100644
--- a/src/python/GNUmakefile
+++ b/src/python/GNUmakefile
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ error1:
 	@exit 1
 endif
 
-PYMAJOR = $(echo $PYTHONVERSION | cut -d. -f1)
+PYMAJOR:=$(word 1, $(subst ., ,$(PYTHONVERSION)))
 ifeq (${PYMAJOR},3)
 LIB_INCLUDES = $(shell $(PYTHONHOME)/bin/python3-config --includes)
 else
diff --git a/src/python/nwchem_wrap.c b/src/python/nwchem_wrap.c
index 373975be55..c7b202494f 100644
--- a/src/python/nwchem_wrap.c
+++ b/src/python/nwchem_wrap.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ char *Parse_String(PyObject *arg)
   if (PyUnicode_Check(arg)) {
     ascii_string = PyUnicode_AsASCIIString(arg);
     out = PyBytes_AsString(ascii_string);
-    Py_DECREF(ascii_string)
+    Py_DECREF(ascii_string);
   } else if (PyBytes_Check(arg)) {
     out = PyBytes_AsString(arg);
   } else {
@@ -240,8 +240,8 @@ static PyObject *wrap_rtdb_put(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
     void *array = 0;
     PyObject *obj, *obj_item, *ascii_string;
     
-    ma_type = -1
-    PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "so|i", &name, &obj, &ma_type)
+    ma_type = -1;
+    PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "so|i", &name, &obj, &ma_type);
 
     if (PyList_Check(obj)) 
       list = 1; 
@@ -1709,7 +1709,7 @@ static struct module_state _state;
 #endif
 
 static PyObject* error_out(PyObject *m) {
-  struct module-state *st = GETSTATE(m);
+  struct module_state *st = GETSTATE(m);
   PyErr_SetString(st->error, "something bad happened");
   return NULL;
 }
diff --git a/src/python/task_python.c b/src/python/task_python.c
index e0de420d5d..5fd5747c1f 100644
--- a/src/python/task_python.c
+++ b/src/python/task_python.c
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include "typesf2c.h"
 
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
+extern PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit_nwchem();
+#else
 extern void initnwchem();
+#endif
 extern void util_file_parallel_copy(const char *, const char *);