diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/lib/bundling.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/lib/bundling.ts
index bd2020a5a228b..28afa880602fc 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/lib/bundling.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/lib/bundling.ts
@@ -70,14 +70,13 @@ export class Bundling implements CdkBundlingOptions {
       outputDir: outputPath,
     });
 
-    const defaultImage = DockerImage.fromBuild(path.join(__dirname, '../lib'), {
+    this.image = image ?? DockerImage.fromBuild(path.join(__dirname, '../lib'), {
       buildArgs: {
         ...props.buildArgs ?? {},
         IMAGE: runtime.bundlingImage.image,
       },
       platform: architecture.dockerPlatform,
     });
-    this.image = image ?? defaultImage;
     this.command = ['bash', '-c', chain(bundlingCommands)];
     this.environment = props.environment;
   }
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/test/bundling.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/test/bundling.test.ts
index a75ecc8625960..6bf90aeb090a1 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/test/bundling.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-python/test/bundling.test.ts
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ test('Bundling a function with custom bundling image', () => {
     }),
   }));
 
+  expect(DockerImage.fromBuild).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   expect(DockerImage.fromBuild).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringMatching(entry));
 });