Migration tutorial fails without python2

Start with package-lock.json and the node-microtime installation path shown in the npm install output; inspect why node-gyp@3.8.0 invokes Python 2 syntax. Reproduce the migration tutorial with Node.js 20 and Python 3.9, then verify that npm install completes without requiring Python 2.

The system I'm using only has python 3.9.18 installed. Running 'npm install' fails as follows:
$ npm install

npm WARN deprecated har-validator@5.1.5: this library is no longer supported
npm WARN deprecated circular-json@0.3.3: CircularJSON is in maintenance only, flatted is its successor.
npm WARN deprecated uuid@3.4.0: Please upgrade  to version 7 or higher.  Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic.  See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details.
npm WARN deprecated request@2.88.2: request has been deprecated, see https://github.com/request/request/issues/3142
npm WARN deprecated tar@3.2.3: This version of tar is no longer supported, and will not receive security updates. Please upgrade asap.
npm WARN deprecated tar@2.2.2: This version of tar is no longer supported, and will not receive security updates. Please upgrade asap.
npm WARN deprecated tar@2.2.2: This version of tar is no longer supported, and will not receive security updates. Please upgrade asap.
npm WARN deprecated tar@2.2.2: This version of tar is no longer supported, and will not receive security updates. Please upgrade asap.

> microtime@2.1.9 install
> prebuild-install || node-gyp rebuild

gyp info it worked if it ends with ok
gyp info using node-gyp@3.8.0
gyp info using node@20.11.0 | linux | x64
gyp ERR! configure error 
gyp ERR! stack Error: Command failed: /usr/bin/python -c import sys; print "%s.%s.%s" % sys.version_info[:3];
gyp ERR! stack   File "<string>", line 1
gyp ERR! stack     import sys; print "%s.%s.%s" % sys.version_info[:3];
gyp ERR! stack                       ^
gyp ERR! stack SyntaxError: invalid syntax
gyp ERR! stack 
gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.exithandler (node:child_process:422:12)
gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:518:28)
gyp ERR! stack     at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1105:16)
gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:305:5)
gyp ERR! System Linux 5.14.0-362.8.1.el9_3.x86_64
gyp ERR! command "/usr/local/nodejs/node-v20.11/bin/node" ".../node-microtime/node_modules/.bin/node-gyp" "rebuild"
gyp ERR! cwd .../node-microtime
gyp ERR! node -v v20.11.0
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v3.8.0
gyp ERR! not ok 
npm ERR! code 1
npm ERR! path .../node-microtime
npm ERR! command failed
npm ERR! command sh -c prebuild-install || node-gyp rebuild

The issue seems to be that node-gyp@3.8.0 ends up in package-lock.json, which issues the python print statement without parentheses.

Is there a way around this without installing python2? Thanks.