diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 33f8df5e336c..988f8da592dd 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 ---
+default_language_version:
+  # force all unspecified python hooks to run python3
+  python: python3
 repos:
   - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
     rev: v2.4.0