diff --git a/gillespy2/solvers/cpp/build/make.py b/gillespy2/solvers/cpp/build/make.py
index 1a24bbbf..e1795053 100644
--- a/gillespy2/solvers/cpp/build/make.py
+++ b/gillespy2/solvers/cpp/build/make.py
@@ -63,10 +63,10 @@ def __init__(self, makefile: str, output_dir: str, obj_dir: str = None, template
 
         # SCons can either be an executable or a Python package.
         scons_exe = shutil.which("scons")
-        if scons_exe is None:
-            self.scons_cmd = [str(Path(sys.executable).resolve()), "-m", "SCons"]
-        elif find_spec("SCons") is not None:
+        if scons_exe is not None:
             self.scons_cmd = [str(Path(scons_exe).resolve())]
+        elif find_spec("SCons") is not None:
+            self.scons_cmd = [str(Path(sys.executable).resolve()), "-m", "SCons"]
         else:
             raise BuildError("SCons must be installed in order to compile solver with C++")