diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_config_interactive.fish b/share/functions/__fish_config_interactive.fish
index bc810b8c7..29014ef4e 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_config_interactive.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_config_interactive.fish
@@ -110,8 +110,9 @@ function __fish_config_interactive -d "Initializations that should be performed
     # Generate man page completions if not present.
     #
     if not test -d $userdatadir/fish/generated_completions
-        #fish_update_completions is a function, so it can not be directly run in background.
-        eval (string escape "$__fish_bin_dir/fish") "-c 'fish_update_completions > /dev/null ^/dev/null' &"
+        command -s python >/dev/null # feature needs python, don't try this on launch without it (#3588)
+        # fish_update_completions is a function, so it can not be directly run in background.
+        and eval (string escape "$__fish_bin_dir/fish") "-c 'fish_update_completions >/dev/null ^/dev/null' &"
     end
 
     #