CLion Remote Debugging Configuring remote GDB debug on macOS local host

I'm new to CLion (though I've used pyCharm for some time now).

I have CLion 2017.3 installed on my MacBook Pro and I'm would like to use the GDB remote debugging option to develop code on a remote Ubuntu Server. I use this same setup with pyCharm to develop in python and it works like a charm (pun intended).

I was following the "Configuring remote GDB debug on macOS local host" instructions, but I'm getting the following error when compiling GDB on my Mac:

       checking for python... /opt/local/bin/python

       checking for python2.7... no

       configure: error: python is missing or unusable

However /opt/local/bin/python exists, and is symlinked to python2.7, and I can invoke that interpreter just fine...

Any ideas of how to interpret the error and where to look for a solution?

Many thanks.