diff --git a/assets/macos_install.png b/assets/macos_install.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2cc1cfc5
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/macos_install.png differ
diff --git a/python/README.md b/python/README.md
index df94185b..a2fb4cc2 100644
--- a/python/README.md
+++ b/python/README.md
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ most users who access MuJoCo through Python. For example, the `egl`, `glfw`, and
 
 ## Installation
 
+### PyPI
+
 The package can be installed from [PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/mujoco/) via
 
 ```sh
@@ -27,15 +29,48 @@ pip install mujoco
 A copy of the MuJoCo library is provided as part of the package and does **not**
 need to be downloaded or installed separately.
 
-If you wish to modify and build the bindings from source, you should clone the
-entire `mujoco` repository from GitHub, then run the `make_sdist.sh` script to
-generate a [source distribution](https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/glossary/#term-Source-Distribution-or-sdist)
-tarball, then run `pip wheel name_of_sdist.tar.gz`. The `make_sdist.sh` script
-generates additional C++ header files that are needed to build the bindings,
-and also pulls in required files from elsewhere in the repository outside the
-`python` directory into the sdist.
+### Source
 
-CMake and a C++17 compiler are needed to build the bindings from source.
+**Note.** CMake and a C++17 compiler are needed to build the bindings from source.
+
+1. Download the [latest release](https://github.com/deepmind/mujoco/releases) from GitHub. On macOS, the download corresponds to a DMG file from which you can drag the `MuJoCo` app into your Applications folder.
+
+<p align="center">
+  <img src="../assets/macos_install.png" width=600>
+</p>
+
+2. Clone the entire mujoco repository from Github and cd into the python directory.
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/deepmind/mujoco.git
+cd mujoco/python
+```
+
+3. Create a virtual environment, for example with conda.
+
+```bash
+conda create -n mujoco python=3.8
+conda activate mujoco
+```
+
+4. Generate a [source distribution](https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/glossary/#term-Source-Distribution-or-sdist)
+tarball with the `make_sdist.sh` script.
+
+```bash
+cd python
+bash make_sdist.sh
+```
+
+The `make_sdist.sh` script generates additional C++ header files that are needed to build the bindings, and also pulls in required files from elsewhere in the repository outside the `python` directory into the sdist. Upon completion, the script will create a `dist` directory with a `mujoco-2.1.X.tar.gz` file (where X is the version number of the release).
+
+5. Install the generated tarball. You'll need to specify the path to the MuJoCo library you downloaded earlier. For example, on macOS, this will be `/Applications/MuJoCo.app/Contents/Frameworks/MuJoCo.framework` if you dragged it to your Applications folder.
+
+```bash
+cd dist
+MUJOCO_PATH=/PATH/TO/MUJOCO pip install mujoco-2.1.X.tar.gz
+```
+
+The python bindings should now be installed! To check that they've been successfully installed, cd outside of the mujoco directory and run `python -c "import mujoco"`.
 
 ## Usage
 
diff --git a/python/make_sdist.sh b/python/make_sdist.sh
index d422ed68..424f07b4 100755
--- a/python/make_sdist.sh
+++ b/python/make_sdist.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-if [[ -z ${VIRTUAL_ENV} ]]; then
+if [[ -z ${VIRTUAL_ENV} ]] && [[ -z ${CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV} ]] ; then
   echo "This script must be run from within a Python virtual environment"
   exit 1
 fi
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ else
   readonly tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
 fi
 
-python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
 python -m pip install absl-py
 pushd ${tmp_dir}
 cp -r "${package_dir}"/* .