diff --git a/cargo_build.py b/cargo_build.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d78ceb9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cargo_build.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+"""This script manages Cargo builds
+while keeping the artifact directory within the build tree
+instead of the source tree.
+"""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+import shlex
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+source_dir = Path(__file__).absolute().parent
+
+args = sys.argv[1:]
+binary_dir = "debug"
+
+if '--release' in args:
+    binary_dir = "release"
+
+# The file produced by Cargo will have a special name
+try:
+    i = args.index('--rename')
+except ValueError:
+    filename = None
+else:
+    args.pop(i)
+    filename = args.pop(i)
+
+# The target destination of the produced file is a positional argument
+out_path = [arg for arg in args if not arg.startswith('--')]
+if out_path:
+    out_path = out_path[0]
+    i = args.index(out_path)
+    args.pop(i)    
+
+subprocess.run(['sh', "{}/cargo.sh".format(shlex.quote(source_dir.as_posix())), 'build']
+    + args,
+    check=True)
+
+if out_path:
+    out_path = Path(out_path).absolute()
+    out_basename = out_path.name
+    filename = filename or out_basename
+    subprocess.run(['cp', '-a',
+        './{}/{}'.format(shlex.quote(binary_dir), shlex.quote(filename)),
+        out_path],
+        check=True)
+
diff --git a/cargo_build.sh b/cargo_build.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 840bc1c6..00000000
--- a/cargo_build.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-# This script manages Cargo builds
-# while keeping the artifact directory within the build tree
-# instead of the source tree
-
-set -e
-
-SCRIPT_PATH="$(realpath "$0")"
-SOURCE_DIR="$(dirname "$SCRIPT_PATH")"
-
-RELEASE=""
-BINARY_DIR="debug"
-if [ "${1}" = "--release" ]; then
-    shift
-    BINARY_DIR="release"
-    RELEASE="--release"
-fi
-
-if [ "${1}" = "--rename" ]; then
-    shift
-    FILENAME="${1}"
-    shift
-fi
-OUT_PATH="$(realpath "${1}")"
-shift
-OUT_BASENAME="$(basename "${OUT_PATH}")"
-FILENAME="${FILENAME:-"${OUT_BASENAME}"}"
-
-sh "$SOURCE_DIR"/cargo.sh build $RELEASE "$@"
-
-if [ -n "${OUT_PATH}" ]; then
-    cp -a ./"${BINARY_DIR}"/"${FILENAME}" "${OUT_PATH}"
-fi
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index ff713e71..f57b943a 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  librust-xkbcommon-0.4+wayland-dev (>= 0.4),
  libwayland-dev (>= 1.16),
  lsb-release,
+ python3,
  rustc,
  wayland-protocols (>= 1.14),
 Standards-Version: 4.1.3
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index a1a073a4..c0eac362 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ cargo_toml = custom_target(
 
 dep_cargo = find_program('cargo')
 cargo_script = find_program('cargo.sh')
-cargo_build = find_program('cargo_build.sh')
+cargo_build = find_program('cargo_build.py')
 
 subdir('data')
 subdir('protocols')