diff --git a/bots/irc-mirror.py b/bots/irc-mirror.py
index 8f058b0..f9af690 100755
--- a/bots/irc-mirror.py
+++ b/bots/irc-mirror.py
@@ -104,11 +104,11 @@ class IRCBot(irc.bot.SingleServerIRCBot):
                 return
             self.dcc_connect(address, port)
 
-usage = """python irc-mirror.py --server=IRC_SERVER --channel=<CHANNEL> --nick-prefix=<NICK> [optional args]
+usage = """./irc-mirror.py --server=IRC_SERVER --channel=<CHANNEL> --nick-prefix=<NICK> [optional args]
 
 Example:
 
-python irc-mirror.py --irc-server=127.0.0.1 --channel='#test' --nick-prefix=username
+./irc-mirror.py --irc-server=127.0.0.1 --channel='#test' --nick-prefix=username
   --site=https://zulip.example.com --user=irc-bot@example.com
   --api-key=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
diff --git a/bots/zmirror_private.conf.template b/bots/zmirror_private.conf.template
index dc31a0f..f01b749 100644
--- a/bots/zmirror_private.conf.template
+++ b/bots/zmirror_private.conf.template
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [program:zmirror-USERNAME]
-command=python /home/zulip/zulip/bots/zephyr_mirror_backend.py --root-path=/home/zulip/zulip --user=USERNAME --log-path=/home/zulip/logs/mirror-log-%(program_name)s --use-sessions --session-path=/home/zulip/zephyr_sessions/%(program_name)s --api-key-file=/home/zulip/api-keys/%(program_name)s --ignore-expired-tickets --nagios-path=/home/zulip/mirror_status/%(program_name)s --nagios-class=zulip-mirror-nagios
+command=/home/zulip/zulip/bots/zephyr_mirror_backend.py --root-path=/home/zulip/zulip --user=USERNAME --log-path=/home/zulip/logs/mirror-log-%(program_name)s --use-sessions --session-path=/home/zulip/zephyr_sessions/%(program_name)s --api-key-file=/home/zulip/api-keys/%(program_name)s --ignore-expired-tickets --nagios-path=/home/zulip/mirror_status/%(program_name)s --nagios-class=zulip-mirror-nagios
 priority=200                   ; the relative start priority (default 999)
 autostart=true                 ; start at supervisord start (default: true)
 autorestart=true               ; whether/when to restart (default: unexpected)
diff --git a/contrib_bots/lib/readme.md b/contrib_bots/lib/readme.md
index 1840f77..5cf1e02 100644
--- a/contrib_bots/lib/readme.md
+++ b/contrib_bots/lib/readme.md
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Here is an example of running the "follow-up" bot from
 inside a Zulip repo:
 
     cd ~/zulip/contrib_bots
-    python run.py lib/followup.py --config-file ~/.zuliprc-prod
+    ./run.py lib/followup.py --config-file ~/.zuliprc-prod
 
 Once the bot code starts running, you will see a
 message explaining how to use the bot, as well as
diff --git a/contrib_bots/run.py b/contrib_bots/run.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index a8a649b..214c2eb
--- a/contrib_bots/run.py
+++ b/contrib_bots/run.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
 from __future__ import print_function
 
 import importlib
@@ -71,9 +72,9 @@ def run_message_handler_for_bot(lib_module, quiet, config_file):
 
 def run():
     usage = '''
-        python run.py <lib file>
+        ./run.py <lib file>
 
-        Example: python run.py lib/followup.py
+        Example: ./run.py lib/followup.py
 
         (This program loads bot-related code from the
         library code and then runs a message loop,