diff --git a/code/controllers/configuration.dm b/code/controllers/configuration.dm
index 811dc3e124..14def97cd0 100644
--- a/code/controllers/configuration.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/configuration.dm
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 var/list/gamemode_cache = list()
 
+// Also global to prevent easy edits
+var/global/python_path = "" //Path to the python executable.  Defaults to "python" on windows and "/usr/bin/env python2" on unix
+
 /datum/configuration
 	var/server_name = null				// server name (for world name / status)
 	var/server_suffix = 0				// generate numeric suffix based on server port
@@ -186,7 +189,6 @@ var/list/gamemode_cache = list()
 	var/irc_bot_export = 0 // whether the IRC bot in use is a Bot32 (or similar) instance; Bot32 uses world.Export() instead of nudge.py/libnudge
 	var/main_irc = ""
 	var/admin_irc = ""
-	var/python_path = "" //Path to the python executable.  Defaults to "python" on windows and "/usr/bin/env python2" on unix
 	var/use_lib_nudge = 0 //Use the C library nudge instead of the python nudge.
 	var/use_overmap = 0
 
@@ -640,7 +642,12 @@ var/list/gamemode_cache = list()
 
 				if("python_path")
 					if(value)
-						config.python_path = value
+						python_path = value
+					else
+						if(world.system_type == UNIX)
+							python_path = "/usr/bin/env python2"
+						else //probably windows, if not this should work anyway
+							python_path = "pythonw"
 
 				if("use_lib_nudge")
 					config.use_lib_nudge = 1
@@ -907,12 +914,4 @@ var/list/gamemode_cache = list()
 		var/datum/game_mode/M = gamemode_cache[game_mode]
 		if(M && M.can_start() && !isnull(config.probabilities[M.config_tag]) && config.probabilities[M.config_tag] > 0)
 			runnable_modes |= M
-	return runnable_modes
-
-/datum/configuration/proc/post_load()
-	//apply a default value to config.python_path, if needed
-	if (!config.python_path)
-		if(world.system_type == UNIX)
-			config.python_path = "/usr/bin/env python2"
-		else //probably windows, if not this should work anyway
-			config.python_path = "python"
+	return runnable_modes
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm b/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm
index 9b798d80ca..6781af866e 100644
--- a/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm
+++ b/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@
 	if(world.system_type == MS_WINDOWS)
 		script = replacetext(script, "/", "\\")
 
-	var/command = config.python_path + " " + script + " " + args
-
-	return shell(command)
+	var/command = python_path + " " + script + " " + args
+	shell("[command]")
+	return
diff --git a/code/world.dm b/code/world.dm
index 07bda88881..765fc2b266 100644
--- a/code/world.dm
+++ b/code/world.dm
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ var/global/datum/global_init/init = new ()
 
 
 
-#define RECOMMENDED_VERSION 501
+#define RECOMMENDED_VERSION 512
 /world/New()
 	world.log << "Map Loading Complete"
 	//logs
@@ -53,8 +53,6 @@ var/global/datum/global_init/init = new ()
 	if(byond_version < RECOMMENDED_VERSION)
 		world.log << "Your server's byond version does not meet the recommended requirements for this server. Please update BYOND"
 
-	config.post_load()
-
 	if(config && config.server_name != null && config.server_suffix && world.port > 0)
 		// dumb and hardcoded but I don't care~
 		config.server_name += " #[(world.port % 1000) / 100]"
@@ -121,7 +119,7 @@ var/global/datum/global_init/init = new ()
 
 	//Must be done now, otherwise ZAS zones and lighting overlays need to be recreated.
 	createRandomZlevel()
-	
+
 	processScheduler = new
 	master_controller = new /datum/controller/game_controller()