diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 34c43b9dde3..601089cd44c 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -6688,6 +6688,8 @@ else
 
 fi
      ;; #(
+              WASI/*) :
+    HOSTRUNNER='wasmtime run --env PYTHONPATH=$$(realpath --relative-to $(abs_srcdir) $(abs_builddir))/$$(cat pybuilddir.txt) --mapdir /::$(srcdir) --' ;; #(
   *) :
     HOSTRUNNER=''
    ;;
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 07a178a996c..4c540ec52b4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1424,6 +1424,10 @@ then
         HOSTRUNNER='node'
       ])
     ],
+    dnl TODO: support other WASI runtimes
+    dnl wasmtime starts the proces with "/" as CWD. For OOT builds add the
+    dnl directory containing _sysconfigdata to PYTHONPATH.
+    [WASI/*], [HOSTRUNNER='wasmtime run --env PYTHONPATH=$$(realpath --relative-to $(abs_srcdir) $(abs_builddir))/$$(cat pybuilddir.txt) --mapdir /::$(srcdir) --'],
     [HOSTRUNNER='']
   )
 fi