diff --git a/src/main/scala/Config.scala b/src/main/scala/Config.scala
index 389592fae..bb3e524a4 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/Config.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/Config.scala
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 package viper.silicon
 
-import java.nio.file.{Path, Paths}
+import java.nio.file.{Files, Path, Paths}
 import scala.collection.immutable.ArraySeq
 import scala.util.matching.Regex
 import scala.util.Properties._
@@ -451,9 +451,15 @@ class Config(args: Seq[String]) extends SilFrontendConfig(args, "Silicon") {
   lazy val z3Exe: String = {
     val isWindows = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase.startsWith("windows")
 
-    rawZ3Exe.toOption.getOrElse(
-      envOrNone(Z3ProverStdIO.exeEnvironmentalVariable)
-        .getOrElse("z3" + (if (isWindows) ".exe" else "")))
+    rawZ3Exe.toOption.getOrElse({
+      Option(System getenv Z3ProverStdIO.exeEnvironmentalVariable).getOrElse({
+        val filename = "z3" + (if (isWindows) ".exe" else "")
+        System.getenv("PATH").split(if (isWindows) ";" else ":").find(dirname => Files.exists(Paths.get(dirname, filename))) match {
+          case Some(dirname) => Paths.get(dirname, filename).toString
+          case None => filename
+        }
+      })
+    })
   }
 
   private val rawCvc5Exe = opt[String]("cvc5Exe",