diff --git a/languages/python/.gitignore b/languages/python/.gitignore
index baa13a078..495f6296b 100644
--- a/languages/python/.gitignore
+++ b/languages/python/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 *.egg-info
 bitwarden_py*.so
 __pycache__
+.venv
diff --git a/languages/python/README.md b/languages/python/README.md
index f41fd8a12..0a2a3c8f6 100644
--- a/languages/python/README.md
+++ b/languages/python/README.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ From the root of the repository:
 npm run schemas # generate schemas.py
 
 cd languages/python/
+python3 -m venv .venv
 maturin develop
 ```
 
@@ -31,5 +32,8 @@ pip install bitwarden-sdk
 Set the `ORGANIZATION_ID` and `ACCESS_TOKEN` environment variables to your organization ID and access token, respectively.
 
 ```bash
+source .venv/bin/activate
 python3 ./example.py
+
+deactivate # run this to close the virtual session
 ```