diff --git a/build/fbcode_builder/docker_builder.py b/build/fbcode_builder/docker_builder.py
index 87381558c8c..aa251f8a468 100644
--- a/build/fbcode_builder/docker_builder.py
+++ b/build/fbcode_builder/docker_builder.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 from fbcode_builder import FBCodeBuilder
 from shell_quoting import (
-    raw_shell, shell_comment, shell_join, ShellQuoted
+    raw_shell, shell_comment, shell_join, ShellQuoted, path_join
 )
 from utils import recursively_flatten_list, run_command
 
@@ -47,7 +47,19 @@ def setup(self):
             ShellQuoted('FROM {}'.format(self.option('os_image'))),
             # /bin/sh syntax is a pain
             ShellQuoted('SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-c"]'),
-        ] + self.install_debian_deps() + [self._change_user()])
+        ] + self.install_debian_deps() + [self._change_user()]
+            + [self.workdir(self.option('prefix')),
+            self.create_python_venv(),
+            self.python_venv()])
+
+    def python_venv(self):
+        # To both avoid calling venv activate on each RUN command AND to ensure
+        # it is present when the resulting container is run add to PATH
+        actions = []
+        if self.option("PYTHON_VENV", "OFF") == "ON":
+            actions = ShellQuoted('ENV PATH={p}:$PATH').format(
+                p=path_join(self.option('prefix'), "venv", "bin"))
+        return(actions)
 
     def step(self, name, actions):
         assert '\n' not in name, 'Name {0} would span > 1 line'.format(name)
diff --git a/build/fbcode_builder/fbcode_builder.py b/build/fbcode_builder/fbcode_builder.py
index a6c055246c8..75b06316725 100644
--- a/build/fbcode_builder/fbcode_builder.py
+++ b/build/fbcode_builder/fbcode_builder.py
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ def debian_deps(self):
             'sudo',
             'unzip',
             'wget',
+            'python3-venv',
         ]
 
     #
@@ -246,6 +247,20 @@ def install_debian_deps(self):
 
         return self.step('Install packages for Debian-based OS', actions)
 
+    def create_python_venv(self):
+        action = []
+        if self.option("PYTHON_VENV", "OFF") == "ON":
+            action = self.run(ShellQuoted("python3 -m venv {p}").format(
+                p=path_join(self.option('prefix'), "venv")))
+        return(action)
+
+    def python_venv(self):
+        action = []
+        if self.option("PYTHON_VENV", "OFF") == "ON":
+            action = ShellQuoted("source {p}").format(
+                p=path_join(self.option('prefix'), "venv", "bin", "activate"))
+        return(action)
+
     def debian_ccache_setup_steps(self):
         return []  # It's ok to ship a renderer without ccache support.
 
diff --git a/build/fbcode_builder/shell_builder.py b/build/fbcode_builder/shell_builder.py
index 52964b430dd..5bb41fe57e1 100644
--- a/build/fbcode_builder/shell_builder.py
+++ b/build/fbcode_builder/shell_builder.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def step(self, name, actions):
     def setup(self):
         steps = [
             ShellQuoted('set -exo pipefail'),
-        ]
+        ] + [self.create_python_venv(), self.python_venv()]
         if self.has_option('ccache_dir'):
             ccache_dir = self.option('ccache_dir')
             steps += [