diff --git a/rakefile b/rakefile
index 4644f30680..df0db9a56d 100644
--- a/rakefile
+++ b/rakefile
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ INSTALL_DIR_PATH = File.join(DEPLOY_DIR, NORMALIZED_DEPLOY_NAME)
 CLOBBER.include(BUILD_DIR, REPORT_DIR, 'cover*', '.coverage')
 CLEAN.include("#{BUILD_DIR}/*.deb", "#{BUILD_DIR}/util")
 
+def select_executable(*cmds)
+    cmds.find_all{ |cmd| system("which #{cmd} > /dev/null 2>&1") }[0] || fail("No executables found from #{cmds.join(', ')}")
+end
+
+
 task :default => [:pep8, :pylint, :test]
 
 directory REPORT_DIR
@@ -47,7 +52,8 @@ end
 
 task :test => REPORT_DIR do
     ENV['NOSE_XUNIT_FILE'] = File.join(REPORT_DIR, "nosetests.xml")
-    sh("django-admin.py test --settings=envs.test --pythonpath=. $(ls djangoapps)")
+    django_admin = ENV['DJANGO_ADMIN_PATH'] || select_executable('django-admin.py', 'django-admin')
+    sh("#{django_admin} test --settings=envs.test --pythonpath=. $(ls djangoapps)")
 end
 
 task :package do