diff --git a/include/libcamera/camera.h b/include/libcamera/camera.h
index 5bb065847..22a025afb 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/camera.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/camera.h
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@ class CameraConfiguration
 	std::vector<StreamConfiguration> config_;
 };
 
-class Camera final : public Object, public std::enable_shared_from_this<Camera>,
-		     public Extensible
+class Camera final : public Object, public std::enable_shared_from_this<Camera>, public Extensible
 {
 	LIBCAMERA_DECLARE_PRIVATE()
 
@@ -114,12 +113,13 @@ class Camera final : public Object, public std::enable_shared_from_this<Camera>,
 	int start(const ControlList *controls = nullptr);
 	int stop();
 
+	~Camera();
+
 private:
 	LIBCAMERA_DISABLE_COPY(Camera)
 
 	Camera(std::unique_ptr<Private> d, const std::string &id,
 	       const std::set<Stream *> &streams);
-	~Camera();
 
 	friend class PipelineHandler;
 	void disconnect();
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/gen-py-controls.py b/src/py/codegen.py
similarity index 75%
rename from src/py/libcamera/gen-py-controls.py
rename to src/py/codegen.py
index 99f3bbcf5..1a976ab72 100755
--- a/src/py/libcamera/gen-py-controls.py
+++ b/src/py/codegen.py
@@ -9,6 +9,25 @@
 import yaml
 
 
+def generate(formats):
+    fmts = []
+
+    for format in formats:
+        name, format = format.popitem()
+        fmts.append(f'\t\t.def_readonly_static("{name}", &libcamera::formats::{name})')
+
+    return {'formats': '\n'.join(fmts)}
+
+
+def fill_template(template, data):
+    with open(template, encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        template = f.read()
+
+    template = string.Template(template)
+    return template.substitute(data)
+
+
+
 def find_common_prefix(strings):
     prefix = strings[0]
 
@@ -68,16 +87,9 @@ def generate_py(controls, mode):
     return {'controls': out}
 
 
-def fill_template(template, data):
-    template = open(template, 'rb').read()
-    template = template.decode('utf-8')
-    template = string.Template(template)
-    return template.substitute(data)
-
-
-def main(argv):
+def main(argv: list[str] = sys.argv[1:]):
     # Parse command line arguments
-    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog="codegen_controls.py")
     parser.add_argument('-o', dest='output', metavar='file', type=str,
                         help='Output file name. Defaults to standard output if not specified.')
     parser.add_argument('input', type=str,
@@ -85,29 +97,29 @@ def main(argv):
     parser.add_argument('template', type=str,
                         help='Template file name.')
     parser.add_argument('--mode', type=str, required=True,
+                        choices=['controls', 'properties', 'formats'],
                         help='Mode is either "controls" or "properties"')
-    args = parser.parse_args(argv[1:])
+    args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
-    if args.mode not in ['controls', 'properties']:
-        print(f'Invalid mode option "{args.mode}"', file=sys.stderr)
-        return -1
+    with open(args.input, 'rb') as f:
+        input_yml = yaml.safe_load(f)
 
-    data = open(args.input, 'rb').read()
-    controls = yaml.safe_load(data)['controls']
-
-    data = generate_py(controls, args.mode)
+    if args.mode == 'formats':
+        data = generate(input_yml['formats'])
+    else:
+        data = generate_py(input_yml['controls'], args.mode)
 
-    data = fill_template(args.template, data)
+    formatted = fill_template(args.template, data)
 
     if args.output:
         output = open(args.output, 'wb')
-        output.write(data.encode('utf-8'))
+        output.write(formatted.encode('utf-8'))
         output.close()
     else:
-        sys.stdout.write(data)
+        sys.stdout.write(formatted)
 
     return 0
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    sys.exit(main(sys.argv))
+    main()
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/gen-py-formats.py b/src/py/libcamera/gen-py-formats.py
deleted file mode 100755
index 0ff1d12ac..000000000
--- a/src/py/libcamera/gen-py-formats.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
-#
-# Generate Python format definitions from YAML
-
-import argparse
-import string
-import sys
-import yaml
-
-
-def generate(formats):
-    fmts = []
-
-    for format in formats:
-        name, format = format.popitem()
-        fmts.append(f'\t\t.def_readonly_static("{name}", &libcamera::formats::{name})')
-
-    return {'formats': '\n'.join(fmts)}
-
-
-def fill_template(template, data):
-    with open(template, encoding='utf-8') as f:
-        template = f.read()
-
-    template = string.Template(template)
-    return template.substitute(data)
-
-
-def main(argv):
-    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
-    parser.add_argument('-o', dest='output', metavar='file', type=str,
-                        help='Output file name. Defaults to standard output if not specified.')
-    parser.add_argument('input', type=str,
-                        help='Input file name.')
-    parser.add_argument('template', type=str,
-                        help='Template file name.')
-    args = parser.parse_args(argv[1:])
-
-    with open(args.input, encoding='utf-8') as f:
-        formats = yaml.safe_load(f)['formats']
-
-    data = generate(formats)
-    data = fill_template(args.template, data)
-
-    if args.output:
-        with open(args.output, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-            f.write(data)
-    else:
-        sys.stdout.write(data)
-
-    return 0
-
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    sys.exit(main(sys.argv))
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/meson.build b/src/py/libcamera/meson.build
index af19ffdd2..0fb1c6014 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/meson.build
+++ b/src/py/libcamera/meson.build
@@ -1,99 +1,74 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
 
-py3_dep = dependency('python3', required : get_option('pycamera'))
-
-if not py3_dep.found()
-    pycamera_enabled = false
-    subdir_done()
-endif
-
-pycamera_enabled = true
-
-pybind11_proj = subproject('pybind11')
-pybind11_dep = pybind11_proj.get_variable('pybind11_dep')
-
 pycamera_sources = files([
+    'py_camera_manager.h',
     'py_camera_manager.cpp',
     'py_enums.cpp',
     'py_geometry.cpp',
+    'py_helpers.h',
     'py_helpers.cpp',
+    'py_main.h',
     'py_main.cpp',
 ])
 
-# Generate controls
+foreach f : pycamera_sources
+    configure_file(
+        input: f,
+        output: '@PLAINNAME@',
+        copy: true,
+    )
+endforeach
 
+# Generate controls
 gen_py_controls_input_files = files([
     '../../libcamera/control_ids.yaml',
-    'py_controls_generated.cpp.in',
+    '../templates/py_controls_generated.cpp.in',
 ])
 
-gen_py_controls = files('gen-py-controls.py')
+gen_py_controls = files('../codegen.py')
 
-pycamera_sources += custom_target('py_gen_controls',
-                                  input : gen_py_controls_input_files,
-                                  output : ['py_controls_generated.cpp'],
-                                  command : [gen_py_controls, '--mode', 'controls', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+custom_target('py_gen_controls',
+              input : gen_py_controls_input_files,
+              output : ['py_controls_generated.cpp'],
+              command : [gen_py_controls, '--mode', 'controls', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'],
+              build_always: true
+)
 
 # Generate properties
-
 gen_py_property_enums_input_files = files([
     '../../libcamera/property_ids.yaml',
-    'py_properties_generated.cpp.in',
+    '../templates/py_properties_generated.cpp.in',
 ])
 
-pycamera_sources += custom_target('py_gen_properties',
-                                  input : gen_py_property_enums_input_files,
-                                  output : ['py_properties_generated.cpp'],
-                                  command : [gen_py_controls, '--mode', 'properties', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
+custom_target('py_gen_properties',
+              input : gen_py_property_enums_input_files,
+              output : ['py_properties_generated.cpp'],
+              command : [gen_py_controls, '--mode', 'properties', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'],
+              build_always: true
+)
 
 # Generate formats
-
 gen_py_formats_input_files = files([
     '../../libcamera/formats.yaml',
-    'py_formats_generated.cpp.in',
+    '../templates/py_formats_generated.cpp.in',
 ])
 
-gen_py_formats = files('gen-py-formats.py')
-
-pycamera_sources += custom_target('py_gen_formats',
-                                  input : gen_py_formats_input_files,
-                                  output : ['py_formats_generated.cpp'],
-                                  command : [gen_py_formats, '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'])
-
-pycamera_deps = [
-    libcamera_private,
-    py3_dep,
-    pybind11_dep,
-]
-
-pycamera_args = [
-    '-fvisibility=hidden',
-    '-Wno-shadow',
-    '-DPYBIND11_USE_SMART_HOLDER_AS_DEFAULT',
-]
-
-destdir = get_option('libdir') / ('python' + py3_dep.version()) / 'site-packages' / 'libcamera'
-
-pycamera = shared_module('_libcamera',
-                         pycamera_sources,
-                         install : true,
-                         install_dir : destdir,
-                         name_prefix : '',
-                         dependencies : pycamera_deps,
-                         cpp_args : pycamera_args)
-
-# Create symlinks from the build dir to the source dir so that we can use the
-# Python module directly from the build dir.
+custom_target('py_gen_formats',
+              input : gen_py_formats_input_files,
+              output : ['py_formats_generated.cpp'],
+              command : [gen_py_controls, '--mode', 'formats', '-o', '@OUTPUT@', '@INPUT@'],
+              build_always: true
+)
 
-run_command('ln', '-fsrT', files('__init__.py'),
+run_command('cp', files('__init__.py'), 
             meson.current_build_dir() / '__init__.py',
             check: true)
 
-run_command('ln', '-fsrT', meson.current_source_dir() / 'utils',
+run_command('cp', '-r', meson.current_source_dir() / 'utils',
             meson.current_build_dir() / 'utils',
             check: true)
 
-install_data(['__init__.py'], install_dir : destdir)
+subdir_done()
 
 # \todo Generate stubs when building. See https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/#stub-files
 # Note: Depends on pybind11-stubgen. To generate pylibcamera stubs:
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_camera_manager.h b/src/py/libcamera/py_camera_manager.h
index 3525057d9..3574db236 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_camera_manager.h
+++ b/src/py/libcamera/py_camera_manager.h
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 #include <libcamera/libcamera.h>
 
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 
 using namespace libcamera;
 
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_enums.cpp b/src/py/libcamera/py_enums.cpp
index 96d4beef4..803c4e7ee 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_enums.cpp
+++ b/src/py/libcamera/py_enums.cpp
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 #include <libcamera/libcamera.h>
 
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
 
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_geometry.cpp b/src/py/libcamera/py_geometry.cpp
index 84b0cb087..5c2aeac48 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_geometry.cpp
+++ b/src/py/libcamera/py_geometry.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #include <libcamera/libcamera.h>
 
 #include <pybind11/operators.h>
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 #include <pybind11/stl.h>
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_helpers.h b/src/py/libcamera/py_helpers.h
index cd31e2cc5..983969dff 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_helpers.h
+++ b/src/py/libcamera/py_helpers.h
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 #include <libcamera/libcamera.h>
 
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 
 pybind11::object controlValueToPy(const libcamera::ControlValue &cv);
 libcamera::ControlValue pyToControlValue(const pybind11::object &ob, libcamera::ControlType type);
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_main.cpp b/src/py/libcamera/py_main.cpp
index d14e18e25..5092b6a5e 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_main.cpp
+++ b/src/py/libcamera/py_main.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 #include <libcamera/libcamera.h>
 
 #include <pybind11/functional.h>
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 #include <pybind11/stl.h>
 #include <pybind11/stl_bind.h>
 
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(_libcamera, m)
 	 * https://pybind11.readthedocs.io/en/latest/advanced/misc.html#avoiding-c-types-in-docstrings
 	 */
 
-	auto pyCameraManager = py::class_<PyCameraManager>(m, "CameraManager");
-	auto pyCamera = py::class_<Camera>(m, "Camera");
+	auto pyCameraManager = py::class_<PyCameraManager, std::shared_ptr<PyCameraManager>>(m, "CameraManager");
+	auto pyCamera = py::class_<Camera, std::shared_ptr<Camera>>(m, "Camera");
 	auto pyCameraConfiguration = py::class_<CameraConfiguration>(m, "CameraConfiguration");
 	auto pyCameraConfigurationStatus = py::enum_<CameraConfiguration::Status>(pyCameraConfiguration, "Status");
 	auto pyStreamConfiguration = py::class_<StreamConfiguration>(m, "StreamConfiguration");
diff --git a/src/py/meson.build b/src/py/meson.build
index a4586b4ae..3c6a85aef 100644
--- a/src/py/meson.build
+++ b/src/py/meson.build
@@ -1,3 +1,37 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
 
+py3 = find_program('python', required : get_option('pycamera'))
+
+if not py3.found()
+    pycamera_enabled = false
+    warning('Python 3 not found, disabling pycamera')
+    subdir_done()
+endif
+
+# Check to make sure version is sufficient
+version_string = run_command(py3, '--version', check: true).stdout().strip()
+message('Building against Python version: ' + version_string)
+is_py3 = version_string.split()[1].split('.')[0].to_int() >= 3
+
+if not is_py3
+    pycamera_enabled = false
+    warning('Python 3 not found, disabling pycamera found: ' + version_string)
+    subdir_done()
+endif
+
+pycamera_enabled = true
+
 subdir('libcamera')
+
+setup_py = configure_file(input: 'setup.py', output: 'setup.py', copy: true)
+
+pycamera = custom_target('python_setup_build',
+    input: pycamera_sources,
+    command: [py3, setup_py, 'bdist_wheel'],
+    output: ['libcamera.cpython-39-x86_64-linux-gnu.so'],
+    depends: libcamera,
+    build_by_default: true,
+)
+
+meson.add_install_script(py3, setup_py, 'install')
+
diff --git a/src/py/setup.py b/src/py/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ba13228d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/py/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+from glob import glob
+from setuptools import setup
+from pybind11.setup_helpers import Pybind11Extension
+
+# from codegen import main as codegen
+from pybind11_stubgen import main as gen_stub
+
+
+# NOTE(meawoppl) These can be vastly simplified to not go through 
+# the argparse and assorted tomfoolery that remains
+# codegen([
+#     '--mode', 'controls', 
+#     '-o', "libcamera/py_controls_generated.cpp", 
+#     '../libcamera/control_ids.yaml',
+#     'libcamera/py_controls_generated.cpp.in',
+# ])
+
+# codegen([
+#     '--mode', 'properties', 
+#     '-o', 'libcamera/py_properties_generated.cpp',
+#     '../libcamera/property_ids.yaml',
+#     'libcamera/py_properties_generated.cpp.in'
+# ])
+
+# codegen(["placeholder",
+#     '--mode', 'formats',
+#     '-o', 'libcamera/py_formats_generated.cpp',
+#     '../libcamera/formats.yaml',
+#     'libcamera/py_formats_generated.cpp.in',
+# ])
+
+
+
+import os
+this_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+print("Running from ", this_dir)
+os.chdir(this_dir)
+
+cpp_sources = list(sorted(glob("libcamera/*.cpp"))) 
+
+ext_modules = [
+    Pybind11Extension(
+        "libcamera._libcamera",
+        cpp_sources,
+        libraries=['camera'],
+        include_dirs=['../../include', "../../../include"],
+        library_dirs=['../libcamera'],
+        extra_compile_args=[
+            '-fvisibility=hidden',
+            '-Wno-shadow',
+            '-DLIBCAMERA_BASE_PRIVATE',
+            '-std=c++17',
+        ],
+    ),
+]
+
+from setuptools import setup, Extension, find_packages, Command
+
+# Custom command to generate stubs using pybind11-stubgen
+class GenerateStubs(Command):
+    user_options = []
+
+    def initialize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def finalize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def run(self):
+        gen_stub(["libcamera", "-o", "libcamera"])
+
+
+setup(
+    name='libcamera',
+    version='0.0.5',
+    description='Python wrapper to `libcamera`',
+    author='Libcamera Developers',
+    author_email=' libcamera-devel@lists.libcamera.org',
+    url='https://libcamera.org/',
+    packages=['libcamera', 'libcamera.utils'],
+    ext_modules=ext_modules,
+    cmdclass={"generate_stubs": GenerateStubs},
+)
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_controls_generated.cpp.in b/src/py/templates/py_controls_generated.cpp.in
similarity index 93%
rename from src/py/libcamera/py_controls_generated.cpp.in
rename to src/py/templates/py_controls_generated.cpp.in
index cb8442bae..18fa57d94 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_controls_generated.cpp.in
+++ b/src/py/templates/py_controls_generated.cpp.in
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 #include <libcamera/control_ids.h>
 
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
 
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_formats_generated.cpp.in b/src/py/templates/py_formats_generated.cpp.in
similarity index 92%
rename from src/py/libcamera/py_formats_generated.cpp.in
rename to src/py/templates/py_formats_generated.cpp.in
index b88807f3a..a3f7f94d5 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_formats_generated.cpp.in
+++ b/src/py/templates/py_formats_generated.cpp.in
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 #include <libcamera/formats.h>
 
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
 
diff --git a/src/py/libcamera/py_properties_generated.cpp.in b/src/py/templates/py_properties_generated.cpp.in
similarity index 93%
rename from src/py/libcamera/py_properties_generated.cpp.in
rename to src/py/templates/py_properties_generated.cpp.in
index 044b2b2a6..e49b6e91b 100644
--- a/src/py/libcamera/py_properties_generated.cpp.in
+++ b/src/py/templates/py_properties_generated.cpp.in
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 #include <libcamera/property_ids.h>
 
-#include <pybind11/smart_holder.h>
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
 
diff --git a/subprojects/packagefiles/pybind11/meson.build b/subprojects/packagefiles/pybind11/meson.build
deleted file mode 100644
index 1be47ca45..000000000
--- a/subprojects/packagefiles/pybind11/meson.build
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-project('pybind11', 'cpp',
-    version : '2.9.1',
-    license : 'BSD-3-Clause')
-
-pybind11_incdir = include_directories('include')
-
-pybind11_dep = declare_dependency(include_directories : pybind11_incdir)
diff --git a/subprojects/pybind11.wrap b/subprojects/pybind11.wrap
deleted file mode 100644
index dd02687b5..000000000
--- a/subprojects/pybind11.wrap
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
-
-[wrap-git]
-url = https://github.com/pybind/pybind11.git
-# This is the head of 'smart_holder' branch
-revision = aebdf00cd060b871c5a1e0c2cf4a333503dd0431
-depth = 1
-patch_directory = pybind11
-
-[provide]
-pybind11 = pybind11_dep