diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5d74fc66b444486aa93603afa3149e8ff476af36..13b429b2fb7d337f88a1b6286630a3c112cc37ab 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -61,11 +61,11 @@ endif()
 option(OGS_USE_CVODE "Use the Sundials CVODE module?" OFF)
 
 # ---- CMake includes ----
+include(Versions)
 include(PreFind)
 include(SubmoduleSetup)
 include(ProcessesSetup)
 include(ProjectSetup)
-include(Versions)
 include(Functions)
 include(ConanSetup)
 include(CompilerSetup)
diff --git a/scripts/cmake/PreFind.cmake b/scripts/cmake/PreFind.cmake
index 308323a35d7f31ead167c31d2405c00e8d755e0d..e49e011034ec3e743bf52558024c2e0f79fbeaa4 100644
--- a/scripts/cmake/PreFind.cmake
+++ b/scripts/cmake/PreFind.cmake
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ if(DEFINED ENV{OGS_VERSION})
     message(STATUS "OGS VERSION: ${OGS_VERSION} (set via environment)")
 endif()
 
-if(NOT IS_GIT_REPO)
+if(NOT IS_GIT_REPO AND NOT OGS_VERSION)
     execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} status
         WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}
         RESULT_VARIABLE IS_GIT_REPO
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ if(NOT IS_GIT_REPO)
     endif()
 endif()
 
-if(IS_GIT_REPO)
+if(IS_GIT_REPO AND NOT OGS_VERSION)
     # Get version info from Git, implementation based on
     # https://github.com/tomtom-international/cpp-dependencies
     execute_process(
@@ -84,8 +84,31 @@ if(IS_GIT_REPO)
         OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
     )
 endif()
+
+### Python setup ###
+find_program(POETRY poetry)
+if(POETRY)
+    configure_file(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/python/poetry.in.toml
+        ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/poetry.toml COPYONLY)
+    if(NOT EXISTS ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/pyproject.toml)
+        configure_file(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/python/pyproject.in.toml
+            ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/pyproject.toml)
+    endif()
+    if(NOT EXISTS ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/.venv)
+        execute_process(
+            COMMAND ${POETRY} install
+            WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}
+        )
+    endif()
+    set(Python3_ROOT_DIR ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/.venv)
+endif()
+
 if(OGS_USE_PYTHON)
-    find_package(Python3 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development REQUIRED)
+    find_package(Python3 ${ogs.minimum_version.python} COMPONENTS Interpreter Development REQUIRED)
 else()
-    find_package(Python3 COMPONENTS Interpreter)
+    find_package(Python3 ${ogs.minimum_version.python} COMPONENTS Interpreter)
+endif()
+if(POETRY)
+    set(Python3_VIRTUALENV_SITEPACKAGES
+        ${Python3_ROOT_DIR}/lib/python${Python3_VERSION_MAJOR}.${Python3_VERSION_MINOR}/site-packages)
 endif()
diff --git a/scripts/python/poetry.in.toml b/scripts/python/poetry.in.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ab1033bd37224ee84b5862fb25f094db73809b74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/python/poetry.in.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[virtualenvs]
+in-project = true
diff --git a/scripts/python/pyproject.in.toml b/scripts/python/pyproject.in.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0b6bb77dbe4159e826e1be0a682ec4ffd847188f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/python/pyproject.in.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+[tool.poetry]
+name = "ogs-build"
+version = "@OGS_VERSION@" # is written just once, maybe outdated
+description = "CMake auto-generated"
+authors = [""]
+
+[tool.poetry.dependencies]
+python = "^@ogs.minimum_version.python@, <3.9" # TODO: <3.9 is a tespy requirement
+
+[tool.poetry.dev-dependencies]
+
+[build-system]
+requires = ["poetry>=0.12"]
+build-backend = "poetry.masonry.api"
diff --git a/web/data/versions.json b/web/data/versions.json
index 7d7298131316a1bb51aa9c2463066bf019ed9097..66796e47d7e95c9ca946840d3747d8a1f150a250 100644
--- a/web/data/versions.json
+++ b/web/data/versions.json
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
     "eigen": "3.3.4",
     "vtk": "8.1.2",
     "petsc": "3.11.2",
-    "qt": "5.12.4"
+    "qt": "5.12.4",
+    "python": "3.7"
   },
   "tested_version": {
     "vtk": "8.2.0",