diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index 21547b9c6..c5803c7c5 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 common --enable_platform_specific_config
 common --experimental_repository_cache_hardlinks
 
-# specify python path for pyo3 compile
-build:windows --action_env="PYO3_PYTHON=c:/python/python.exe"
-#build:linux --action_env="PYO3_PYTHON=/usr/local/bin/python3.9"
+# specify custom python path
+# build --action_env="PYO3_PYTHON=/usr/local/bin/python3.9"
 
 # only affects the ankihelper library
 #build:macos --macos_cpus=x86_64,arm64
diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
index 23166bf06..95b0cb5fc 100644
--- a/docs/development.md
+++ b/docs/development.md
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@ https://betas.ankiweb.net/
 
 Pre-built Python packages are available on PyPI. They are useful if you wish to:
 
-- Run Anki from a local Python installation without building it yourself
-- Get code completion when developing add-ons
-- Make command line scripts that modify .anki2 files via Anki's Python libraries
+-   Run Anki from a local Python installation without building it yourself
+-   Get code completion when developing add-ons
+-   Make command line scripts that modify .anki2 files via Anki's Python libraries
 
-You will need the 64 bit version of Python 3.9 or 3.10 installed. If you do not
-have Python yet, please see the platform-specific instructions in the "Building
-from source" section below for more info.
+You will need the 64 bit version of Python 3.9 or 3.10 installed. 3.9 is recommended,
+as Anki has only received minimal testing on 3.10 so far, and some dependencies have not
+been fully updated yet. You can install Python from python.org or from your distro.
 
 **Mac/Linux**:
 
@@ -51,13 +51,10 @@ c:\> \pyenv\scripts\anki
 
 Platform-specific instructions:
 
-- [Windows](./windows.md)
-- [Mac](./mac.md)
-- [Linux](./linux.md)
-- [Other Platforms](./new-platform.md)
-
-Don't name the Git checkout ~/Anki or ~/Documents/Anki, as those folders
-were used on old Anki versions and will be automatically moved.
+-   [Windows](./windows.md)
+-   [Mac](./mac.md)
+-   [Linux](./linux.md)
+-   [Other Platforms](./new-platform.md)
 
 Before contributing code, please see [Contributing](./contributing.md).
 
@@ -186,6 +183,7 @@ VS Code's "watcher exclude", and add `**/bazel-*`.
 
 After running 'code' from the project root, it may take a minute or two to be
 ready.
+
 ## TypeScript editing
 
 Visual Studio Code seems to give the best experience. Use 'code ts' from the project
@@ -235,7 +233,7 @@ Anki to load a specific profile.
 
 If you're using PyCharm:
 
-- right click on the "run" file in the root of the PyCharm Anki folder
-- click "Edit 'run'..." - in Script options and enter:
-  "-p [dev profile name]" without the quotes
-- click "Ok"
+-   right click on the "run" file in the root of the PyCharm Anki folder
+-   click "Edit 'run'..." - in Script options and enter:
+    "-p [dev profile name]" without the quotes
+-   click "Ok"
diff --git a/docs/linux.md b/docs/linux.md
index cddbf59bc..a36f72efe 100644
--- a/docs/linux.md
+++ b/docs/linux.md
@@ -18,50 +18,30 @@ $ sudo apt install bash grep findutils curl gcc g++ git
 
 The 'find' utility is 'findutils' on Debian.
 
-**Install Python 3.9**:
+**Python**:
 
-If you're on a modern distribution, you may be able to install Python from the repo:
+For building and running from source, Python is required, but the version is
+flexible - any version from 2.7 onwards should work. The build system expects to
+find the command `python`, so if your system only has a `python3`, you'll need
+to link it to `python`, or do something like `sudo apt install python-is-python3`.
 
-```
-$  sudo apt install python3.9
-```
+The system Python is only used for running scripts, and the build system will
+download a copy of Python 3.9 into a local folder as part of the build.
 
-If you are using a packaged Python version that is installed in /usr/bin, you can jump
-immediately to the next section after ensuring python3.9-distutils is installed.
-
-If Python 3.9 is not available in your distro, you can download it from
-python.org, compile it, and install it in /usr/local. If you're on a basic
-Debian install, make sure you have the following installed before building
-Python:
-
-gcc g++ make libsqlite3-dev libreadline-dev libssl-dev zlib1g-dev libffi-dev
-
-Bazel does not look in /usr/local by default. If you've installed Python somewhere
-other than /usr/bin, you'll need to put the following into a file called user.bazelrc
-at the top of this repo before proceeding:
+You can have it use a locally installed Python instead, by putting something
+like the following into a file called user.bazelrc at the top of this repo
+before proceeding:
 
 ```
 build --action_env=PYO3_PYTHON=/usr/local/bin/python3.9
 ```
 
-If you're building Anki from a docker container or distro that has no `python` command in
-/usr/bin, you'll need to symlink `python` to `/usr/bin/python`. `/usr/bin/python` does not
-need to be Python 3.9; any version will do. `apt install python-is-python3` can also be
-used to link python3 to python.
-
-If your system only has Python 3.9, you should be able to build Anki with it,
-but the pylint tests may fail.
-
-Anki's build system will not place packages in system locations, so you do not
-need to build with an active Python virtual environment, and building outside
-of one is recommended.
-
 **Install Bazelisk**:
 
 Download it under the name 'bazel':
 
 ```
-$ curl -L https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/download/v1.7.4/bazelisk-linux-amd64 -o ./bazel
+$ curl -L https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/download/v1.10.1/bazelisk-linux-amd64 -o ./bazel
 ```
 
 And put it on your path:
diff --git a/docs/mac.md b/docs/mac.md
index 16febc02c..f28aa8b5a 100644
--- a/docs/mac.md
+++ b/docs/mac.md
@@ -17,33 +17,18 @@ Then install deps:
 $ brew install rsync bazelisk
 ```
 
-**Install Python 3.9**:
+**Python**:
 
-Install Python 3.9 from <https://python.org>. We have heard reports
-of issues with pyenv and homebrew, so the package from python.org is
-the only recommended approach.
+The build system will automatically download a copy of Python 3.9 as part
+of the build.
 
-Python 3.9 is not currently recommended, as pylint does not support it yet.
+It is also possible to override the Python 3.9 that the build system uses.
+We only recommend you do this if you have downloaded Python from python.org,
+as we have heard reports of things failing when using a Python 3 from macOS
+or Homebrew.
 
-You do not need to set up a Python venv prior to building Anki.
-
-When you run "python" in a shell, if it shows Python 2.x, you may get a
-bunch of hashlib warnings during build. You can work around this by
-pointing python to python3.9:
-
-```
-$ ln -sf /usr/local/bin/{python3.9,python}
-```
-
-This linking will not work if you're using the system Python from Big Sur,
-which is one of the reasons why we recommend using Python from python.org.
-
-But even so, if you still have a Python 2 binary on your system linked to 
-/usr/bin/python, it can happen that Bazel uses it and the build process 
-errors. In that case you might want to try forcing Bazel to use the 
-Python 3 binary by putting the following into a file called user.bazelrc at 
-the top of this repo (assuming /usr/local/bin/python links to your Python 
-3.9 binary).
+To override Python, put the following into a file called user.bazelrc at the top
+of this repo (assuming /usr/local/bin/python links to your Python 3.9 binary).
 
 ```
 build --action_env=PYO3_PYTHON=/usr/local/bin/python
diff --git a/docs/windows.md b/docs/windows.md
index c855e2801..913c5d0e8 100644
--- a/docs/windows.md
+++ b/docs/windows.md
@@ -15,17 +15,6 @@ Install the [Visual Studio build tools](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downl
 Make sure the "C++ build tools" box is selected, and leave the default optional
 components enabled on the right.
 
-**Python 3.9**:
-
-Download the 64 bit Python 3.9 from <https://python.org>. Run the installer,
-and customize the installation. Select "install for all users", and choose
-the install path as c:\python. Currently the build scripts require
-Python to be installed in that location.
-
-When the install is done, click on the "remove the path limit" button.
-
-Python 3.9 is not currently recommended, as pylint does not support it yet.
-
 **MSYS**:
 
 Install [msys2](https://www.msys2.org/) into the default folder location.
@@ -49,12 +38,9 @@ PS> cd \bazel
 Then grab Bazelisk:
 
 ```
-PS> \msys64\usr\bin\curl -L https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/download/v1.7.4/bazelisk-windows-amd64.exe -o bazel.exe
+PS> \msys64\usr\bin\curl -L https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/download/v1.10.1/bazelisk-windows-amd64.exe -o bazel.exe
 ```
 
-NOTE: At the time of writing, Windows Defender is claiming this file has a virus. If it disappears
-the first time you run Bazel, restoring it from the Defender settings should allow you to proceed.
-
 **Source folder**:
 
 Anki's source files do not need to be in a specific location other than on the
diff --git a/pylib/rsbridge/BUILD.bazel b/pylib/rsbridge/BUILD.bazel
index 66502a1c5..b3579abae 100644
--- a/pylib/rsbridge/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pylib/rsbridge/BUILD.bazel
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ load("//rslib:rustfmt.bzl", "rustfmt_fix", "rustfmt_test")
 cargo_build_script(
     name = "build_script",
     srcs = ["build.rs"],
+    build_script_env = {
+        "PYO3_PYTHON": "$(location @python)",
+    },
+    data = [
+        "@python",
+    ],
 )
 
 rust_library(
diff --git a/python.bzl b/python.bzl
index aa67d8aa4..6add734f8 100644
--- a/python.bzl
+++ b/python.bzl
@@ -1,23 +1,61 @@
+_python_distros = {
+    "macos_amd64": struct(
+        url = "https://github.com/indygreg/python-build-standalone/releases/download/20211012/cpython-3.9.7-x86_64-apple-darwin-install_only-20211011T1926.tar.gz",
+        sha256 = "43cb1a83919f49b1ce95e42f9c461d8a9fb00ff3957bebef9cffe61a5f362377",
+    ),
+    "macos_arm64": struct(
+        url = "https://github.com/indygreg/python-build-standalone/releases/download/20211012/cpython-3.9.7-aarch64-apple-darwin-install_only-20211011T1926.tar.gz",
+        sha256 = "213d64f08f82184c9ad398537becf9b341ee85b1c406cfb2b4cbcb78cdb27a2c",
+    ),
+    "linux_amd64": struct(
+        # pending https://github.com/indygreg/python-build-standalone/issues/95
+        url = "https://github.com/ankitects/python-build-standalone/releases/download/anki-2021-10-15/cpython-3.9.7-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu-install_only-20211013T1538.tar.gz",
+        sha256 = "6a42fe15950f4e42000f5c68ebefacf8fce024f4d80a446789c18b174efdec1b",
+    ),
+    "windows_amd64": struct(
+        url = "https://github.com/indygreg/python-build-standalone/releases/download/20211012/cpython-3.9.7-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc-shared-install_only-20211011T1926.tar.gz",
+        sha256 = "80370f232fd63d5cb3ff9418121acb87276228b0dafbeee3c57af143aca11f89",
+    ),
+}
+
+def get_platform(rctx):
+    if rctx.os.name == "mac os x":
+        result = rctx.execute(["arch"])
+        if result.return_code:
+            fail("invoking arch failed", result.stderr)
+        arch = result.stdout.strip()
+        if arch == "i386":
+            return "macos_amd64"
+        elif arch == "arm64":
+            return "macos_arm64"
+        else:
+            fail("unexpected arch:", arch)
+    elif rctx.os.name == "linux":
+        return "linux_amd64"
+    elif rctx.os.name.startswith("windows"):
+        return "windows_amd64"
+    else:
+        fail("unexpected platform", rctx.os.name)
+
 def _impl(rctx):
-    # locate python on path, and export it
-    names = [
-        "python3.9",
-        "python3.10",
-        "python.exe",
-    ]
-    path = None
+    # bundled python overriden?
     if rctx.os.environ.get("PYO3_PYTHON"):
         path = rctx.os.environ.get("PYO3_PYTHON")
+        rctx.symlink(path, "python")
     else:
-        for name in names:
-            path = rctx.which(name)
-            if path:
-                break
+        platform = get_platform(rctx)
+        distro = _python_distros.get(platform)
+        rctx.download_and_extract(
+            url = distro.url,
+            sha256 = distro.sha256,
+            stripPrefix = "python",
+        )
+        if platform.startswith("windows"):
+            path = rctx.path("python.exe")
+        else:
+            path = rctx.path("bin/python3")
+        rctx.symlink(path, "python")
 
-    if not path:
-        fail("python3 or python.exe not found on path, and PYO3_PYTHON not set")
-
-    rctx.symlink(path, "python")
     rctx.file("BUILD.bazel", """
 load("@rules_python//python:defs.bzl", "py_runtime_pair")