diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yaml b/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3dc7e92343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# NOTE: This filename is hardcoded in our trusted publishing setup on pypi.org and test.pypi.org;
+# do not change this filename without updating it in both places as well.
+name: Publish to PyPI
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@20cfd1bf945f4377ade1205e4dbc17946fc9a30d # v10.0.1
+
+      - run: uv sync
+
+      - run: uv run python scripts/generate_wheels.py
+
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          name: wheels
+          path: dist/
+
+  test-publish:
+    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
+    needs: build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    environment: pypi-test
+    permissions:
+      id-token: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
+        with:
+          name: wheels
+          path: dist/
+
+      - uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
+        with:
+          repository-url: https://test.pypi.org/legacy/
+          skip-existing: true
+
+  publish:
+    if: github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    environment: pypi-release
+    permissions:
+      id-token: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
+        with:
+          name: wheels
+          path: dist/
+
+      - uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
+        with:
+          skip-existing: true
diff --git a/make/buf/all.mk b/make/buf/all.mk
index ad99cc3560..c30b848c24 100644
--- a/make/buf/all.mk
+++ b/make/buf/all.mk
@@ -199,3 +199,4 @@ postupgrade:: checkandupdateprecommithooks
 updatebufversion:
 	$(SED_I) -E "s/BUF_VERSION \?=.*/BUF_VERSION ?= v${RELEASE_BUF_VERSION}/" "make/go/dep_buf.mk"
 	$(SED_I) -E "s/\# https\:\/\/github.com\/bufbuild\/buf\/releases.*/\# https\:\/\/github.com\/bufbuild\/buf\/releases $(shell date "+%Y%m%d") checked $(shell date "+%Y%m%d")/" "make/go/dep_buf.mk"
+	$(SED_I) -E "s/^version = \".*\"/version = \"${RELEASE_BUF_VERSION}\"/" "packaging/python/pyproject.toml"
diff --git a/packaging/python/.gitignore b/packaging/python/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f1c6f33013
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/python/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+.venv
+.ruff_cache
+dist
+uv.lock
diff --git a/packaging/python/LICENSE b/packaging/python/LICENSE
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..30cff7403d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/python/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../LICENSE
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packaging/python/README.md b/packaging/python/README.md
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..fe84005413
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/python/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../README.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packaging/python/buf_bin/__init__.py b/packaging/python/buf_bin/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..592c0de6e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/python/buf_bin/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# buf-bin: Buf CLI distributed via PyPI.
+# The buf binary is installed directly as a script on PATH.
diff --git a/packaging/python/out/bin/.gitkeep b/packaging/python/out/bin/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/packaging/python/pyproject.toml b/packaging/python/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a35668d6b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/python/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+[project]
+name = "buf-bin"
+version = "1.72.0"
+description = "Buf CLI distributed via PyPI"
+readme = "README.md"
+requires-python = ">=3.10"
+license = "Apache-2.0"
+license-files = ["LICENSE"]
+keywords = [
+  "buf",
+  "bufbuild",
+  "protobuf",
+  "protoc",
+]
+classifiers = [
+  "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
+  "Environment :: Console",
+  "Intended Audience :: Developers",
+  "Operating System :: OS Independent",
+  "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+  "Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only",
+  "Topic :: Software Development :: Build Tools",
+  "Topic :: Software Development :: Code Generators",
+  "Topic :: Software Development :: Compilers",
+]
+
+[project.urls]
+Changelog = "https://github.com/bufbuild/buf/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md"
+Documentation = "https://buf.build/docs/cli/"
+Homepage = "https://buf.build/docs/cli/"
+Issue = "https://github.com/bufbuild/buf/issues"
+Repository = "https://github.com/bufbuild/buf"
+
+[dependency-groups]
+dev = ["wheel"]
+
+[build-system]
+requires = ["uv_build>=0.11.0,<0.12.0"]
+build-backend = "uv_build"
+
+[tool.uv.build-backend]
+module-name = "buf_bin"
+module-root = ""
+data = { scripts = "out/bin" }
diff --git a/packaging/python/scripts/generate_wheels.py b/packaging/python/scripts/generate_wheels.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e98e2f0daa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/python/scripts/generate_wheels.py
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+# Copyright 2020-2026 Buf Technologies, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import hashlib
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import urllib.request
+from importlib.metadata import version as pkg_version
+from pathlib import Path
+
+GITHUB_RELEASES_BASE = "https://github.com/bufbuild/buf/releases/download"
+
+# Maps buf platform suffix to Python wheel platform tag.
+# buf binary names on GitHub releases follow the pattern:
+#   buf-{PLATFORM} or buf-{PLATFORM}.exe
+# Check https://go.dev/wiki/MinimumRequirements#operating-systems for
+# minimum OS versions, especially macOS.
+PLATFORMS = [
+    ("Darwin-arm64", "macosx_11_0_arm64"),
+    ("Darwin-x86_64", "macosx_11_0_x86_64"),
+    ("Linux-aarch64", "manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.musllinux_1_1_aarch64"),
+    ("Linux-armv7", "manylinux_2_17_armv7l.manylinux2014_armv7l.musllinux_1_1_armv7l"),
+    ("Linux-ppc64le", "manylinux_2_17_ppc64le.manylinux2014_ppc64le.musllinux_1_1_ppc64le"),
+    ("Linux-riscv64", "manylinux_2_17_riscv64.musllinux_1_2_riscv64"),
+    ("Linux-s390x", "manylinux_2_17_s390x.manylinux2014_s390x.musllinux_1_1_s390x"),
+    ("Linux-x86_64", "manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.musllinux_1_1_x86_64"),
+    ("Windows-arm64", "win_arm64"),
+    ("Windows-x86_64", "win_amd64"),
+]
+
+
+def fetch_checksums(version: str) -> dict[str, str]:
+    url = f"{GITHUB_RELEASES_BASE}/v{version}/sha256.txt"
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:
+        content = response.read().decode()
+    result = {}
+    for line in content.splitlines():
+        if "  " in line:
+            sha256, filename = line.split("  ", 1)
+            result[filename] = sha256
+    return result
+
+
+def verify_checksum(path: Path, expected: str) -> None:
+    actual = hashlib.sha256(path.read_bytes()).hexdigest()
+    if actual != expected:
+        msg = f"checksum mismatch for {path.name}: expected {expected}, got {actual}"
+        raise ValueError(msg)
+
+
+def download(url: str, dest: Path) -> None:
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response, dest.open("wb") as f:
+        shutil.copyfileobj(response, f)
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    base_dir = Path(__file__).parent.parent
+
+    version = pkg_version("buf-bin")
+
+    print(f"Generating wheels for buf v{version}")
+    checksums = fetch_checksums(version)
+
+    bin_dir = base_dir / "out" / "bin"
+
+    for buf_platform, wheel_platform in PLATFORMS:
+        print(f"\nBuilding wheel for {buf_platform} ({wheel_platform})")
+
+        shutil.rmtree(bin_dir, ignore_errors=True)
+        bin_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+
+        try:
+            ext = ".exe" if buf_platform.startswith("Windows") else ""
+            filename = f"buf-{buf_platform}{ext}"
+            dest = bin_dir / f"buf{ext}"
+            print(f"  Downloading {GITHUB_RELEASES_BASE}/v{version}/{filename}")
+            download(f"{GITHUB_RELEASES_BASE}/v{version}/{filename}", dest)
+            verify_checksum(dest, checksums[filename])
+            if not ext:
+                dest.chmod(0o755)
+
+            subprocess.run(
+                ["uv", "build", "--wheel"],
+                check=True,
+                cwd=base_dir,
+            )
+
+            dist_dir = base_dir / "dist"
+            built_wheel = next(dist_dir.glob("*-py3-none-any.whl"))
+
+            subprocess.run(
+                [
+                    sys.executable,
+                    "-m",
+                    "wheel",
+                    "tags",
+                    "--remove",
+                    "--platform-tag",
+                    wheel_platform,
+                    str(built_wheel),
+                ],
+                check=True,
+            )
+        finally:
+            shutil.rmtree(bin_dir, ignore_errors=True)
+
+    bin_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+    (bin_dir / ".gitkeep").touch()
+
+    print("\nDone. Wheels written to dist/")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()