diff --git a/oslo_concurrency/processutils.py b/oslo_concurrency/processutils.py
index 744c849..8479a3a 100644
--- a/oslo_concurrency/processutils.py
+++ b/oslo_concurrency/processutils.py
@@ -262,6 +262,10 @@ def execute(*cmd, **kwargs):
     :param prlimit:         Set resource limits on the child process. See
                             below for a detailed description.
     :type prlimit:          :class:`ProcessLimits`
+    :param python_exec:     The python executable to use for enforcing
+                            prlimits. If this is not set it will default to use
+                            sys.executable.
+    :type python_exec:      string
     :returns:               (stdout, stderr) from process execution
     :raises:                :class:`UnknownArgumentError` on
                             receiving unknown arguments
@@ -314,6 +318,7 @@ def execute(*cmd, **kwargs):
     on_completion = kwargs.pop('on_completion', None)
     preexec_fn = kwargs.pop('preexec_fn', None)
     prlimit = kwargs.pop('prlimit', None)
+    python_exec = kwargs.pop('python_exec', sys.executable)
 
     if isinstance(check_exit_code, bool):
         ignore_exit_code = not check_exit_code
@@ -350,7 +355,7 @@ def execute(*cmd, **kwargs):
                     _('Process resource limits are ignored as '
                       'this feature is not supported on Windows.'))
         else:
-            args = [sys.executable, '-m', 'oslo_concurrency.prlimit']
+            args = [python_exec, '-m', 'oslo_concurrency.prlimit']
             args.extend(prlimit.prlimit_args())
             args.append('--')
             args.extend(cmd)
diff --git a/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_processutils.py b/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_processutils.py
index 29b4c65..29576e5 100644
--- a/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_processutils.py
+++ b/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_processutils.py
@@ -968,3 +968,16 @@ class PrlimitTestCase(test_base.BaseTestCase):
             stderr=mock.ANY, close_fds=mock.ANY,
             preexec_fn=mock.ANY, shell=mock.ANY,
             cwd=mock.ANY, env=mock.ANY)
+
+    @mock.patch.object(processutils.subprocess, 'Popen')
+    def test_python_exec(self, sub_mock):
+        mock_subprocess = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_subprocess.communicate.return_value = (b'', b'')
+        sub_mock.return_value = mock_subprocess
+        args = ['/a/command']
+        prlimit = self.limit_address_space()
+
+        processutils.execute(*args, prlimit=prlimit, check_exit_code=False,
+                             python_exec='/fake_path')
+        python_path = sub_mock.mock_calls[0][1][0][0]
+        self.assertEqual('/fake_path', python_path)
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-python-exec-kwarg-3a7a0c0849f9bb21.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-python-exec-kwarg-3a7a0c0849f9bb21.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..852d3fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-python-exec-kwarg-3a7a0c0849f9bb21.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+features:
+  - A new kwarg, ``python_exec`` is added to the execute() function in the
+    processutils module. This option is used to specify the path to the python
+    executable to use for prlimits enforcement.