diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c4d76c2e3..a890163c3 100755
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ all: mapnik
 install:
 	$(PYTHON) scons/scons.py -j$(JOBS) --config=cache --implicit-cache --max-drift=1 install
 
+python:
+	if [[ ! -d ./bindings/python ]]; then git clone git@github.com:mapnik/python-mapnik.git --recursive ./bindings/python; else (cd bindings/python && git pull && git submodule update --init); fi;
+	python bindings/python/test/visual.py -q
+
 src/json/libmapnik-json.a:
 	# we first build memory intensive files with -j1
 	$(PYTHON) scons/scons.py -j1 \
diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 365fa53be..293ee6dea 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -1957,6 +1957,9 @@ if not HELP_REQUESTED:
     if env['BENCHMARK']:
         SConscript('benchmark/build.py')
 
+    if os.path.exists('./bindings/python/build.py'):
+        SConscript('./bindings/python/build.py')
+
     # install mapnik-config script
     SConscript('utils/mapnik-config/build.py')