diff --git a/MAC/APL/CEPCU/src/PythonControl/PythonControl.cc b/MAC/APL/CEPCU/src/PythonControl/PythonControl.cc
index 0fce53909dca9659e70d578925de2f4f84846463..99125ff82515db8570907f1f852b4656d4f5896d 100644
--- a/MAC/APL/CEPCU/src/PythonControl/PythonControl.cc
+++ b/MAC/APL/CEPCU/src/PythonControl/PythonControl.cc
@@ -212,13 +212,13 @@ bool PythonControl::_startPython(const string&	pythonProg,
 	itsPythonName = formatString("PythonServer{%d}@%s", obsID, pythonHost.c_str());
 
 	if (onRemoteMachine) {
-		startCmd = formatString("ssh %s %s %s %s %s %s %s", 
+		startCmd = formatString("ssh %s LOFARENV=$LOFARENV %s %s %s %s %s %s", 
 								pythonHost.c_str(), startScript.c_str(),
 								executable.c_str(), parSetName.c_str(),
 								myHostname(true).c_str(), parentService.c_str(), itsPythonName.c_str());
 	}
 	else {
-		startCmd = formatString("%s %s %s %s %s %s", 
+		startCmd = formatString("env LOFARENV=$LOFARENV %s %s %s %s %s %s", 
 								startScript.c_str(),
 								executable.c_str(), parSetName.c_str(),
 								myHostname(true).c_str(), parentService.c_str(), itsPythonName.c_str());