diff --git a/googletest/cmake/internal_utils.cmake b/googletest/cmake/internal_utils.cmake
index 41405587..0438bef8 100644
--- a/googletest/cmake/internal_utils.cmake
+++ b/googletest/cmake/internal_utils.cmake
@@ -259,10 +259,12 @@ endif()
 # Sets PYTHONINTERP_FOUND and PYTHON_EXECUTABLE.
 if ("${CMAKE_VERSION}" VERSION_LESS "3.12.0")
   find_package(PythonInterp)
+  set(PYTHONINTERP_FOUND ${PYTHONINTERP_FOUND} CACHE INTERNAL "")
+  set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} CACHE INTERNAL "")
 else()
   find_package(Python COMPONENTS Interpreter)
-  set(PYTHONINTERP_FOUND ${Python_Interpreter_FOUND})
-  set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE ${Python_EXECUTABLE})
+  set(PYTHONINTERP_FOUND ${Python_Interpreter_FOUND} CACHE INTERNAL "")
+  set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE ${Python_EXECUTABLE} CACHE INTERNAL "")
 endif()
 
 # cxx_test_with_flags(name cxx_flags libs srcs...)