diff --git a/.github/workflows/conformance.yml b/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
index 07cb762..21add16 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
@@ -29,22 +29,13 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: install sigstore-python
         run: |
-          python3 -m venv sigstore-env
-          ./sigstore-env/bin/python -m pip install "sigstore >= 3.5.0, < 4.0"
-
-          cat <<EOF > ./sigstore-env/bin/conformance
-          #!/bin/sh
-          # allow sigstore-python-conformance wrapper to find "sigstore" binary from venv
-          PATH=$PWD/sigstore-env/bin/:$PATH
-          $PWD/sigstore-env/bin/python $PWD/sigstore-python-conformance "\$@"
-          EOF
-
-          chmod +x ./sigstore-env/bin/conformance
+          python3 -m venv selftest-env
+          ./selftest-env/bin/python -m pip install --requirement selftest-requirements.txt
 
       - name: conformance test sigstore-python
         uses: ./
         with:
-          entrypoint: ${{ github.workspace }}/sigstore-env/bin/conformance
+          entrypoint: ${{ github.workspace }}/sigstore-python-conformance
           skip-cpython-release-tests: ${{ matrix.skip-cpython-release-tests }}
           environment: ${{ matrix.sigstore-infra }}
           xfail: "test_verify_with_trust_root test_verify_dsse_bundle_with_trust_root"
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5b88b7f..c0cdad4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 env/
+selftest-env/
 pip-wheel-metadata/
 *.egg-info/
 __pycache__/
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2c80d83..a3815e9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -13,11 +13,17 @@ env/bootstrap: dev-requirements.txt
 	./env/bin/python -m pip install --requirement dev-requirements.txt
 	touch env/bootstrap
 
+selftest-env/pyvenv.cfg: selftest-requirements.txt
+	python3 -m venv selftest-env
+	./selftest-env/bin/python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+	./selftest-env/bin/python -m pip install --requirement selftest-requirements.txt
+
+
 env/pyvenv.cfg: env/bootstrap requirements.txt
 	./env/bin/python -m pip install --requirement requirements.txt
 
 .PHONY: dev
-dev: env/pyvenv.cfg
+dev: env/pyvenv.cfg selftest-env/pyvenv.cfg
 
 .PHONY: lint
 lint: env/pyvenv.cfg $(ALL_PY_SRCS)
diff --git a/dev-requirements.txt b/dev-requirements.txt
index deef3b0..aa51d33 100644
--- a/dev-requirements.txt
+++ b/dev-requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-sigstore ~= 3.6
 ruff
 mypy
 types-requests
diff --git a/selftest-requirements.txt b/selftest-requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b3cac1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/selftest-requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# Requirements for the self test client sigstore-python-conformance
+sigstore ~= 3.6.1
diff --git a/sigstore-python-conformance b/sigstore-python-conformance
index eab5557..72efa3b 100755
--- a/sigstore-python-conformance
+++ b/sigstore-python-conformance
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
 
 """
 A wrapper to convert `sigstore-conformance` CLI protocol invocations to match `sigstore-python`.
+
+This wrapper expects to find sigstore-python binary installed in selftest-env/bin/sigstore
 """
 
+
 import os
 import sys
 
@@ -17,6 +20,15 @@ ARG_REPLACEMENTS = {
     "--certificate-oidc-issuer": "--cert-oidc-issuer",
 }
 
+script_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
+SIGSTORE_BINARY = os.path.join(script_dir, "selftest-env", "bin", "sigstore")
+
+if not os.path.exists(SIGSTORE_BINARY):
+    exit(
+        f"Error: sigstore binary not found in {SIGSTORE_BINARY}.\n"
+        "Has the environment been initialized with 'make dev'?"
+    )
+
 # Trim the script name.
 fixed_args = sys.argv[1:]
 
@@ -44,4 +56,4 @@ else:
 # Replace incompatible flags.
 command.extend(ARG_REPLACEMENTS[arg] if arg in ARG_REPLACEMENTS else arg for arg in fixed_args)
 
-os.execvp("sigstore", command)
+os.execvp(SIGSTORE_BINARY, command)
diff --git a/tools/requirements.txt b/tools/requirements.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index bef9feb..0000000
--- a/tools/requirements.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
--r ../requirements.txt
-
-sigstore~=3.6.1