diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5be8b96cb1..35d2db1f21 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ uv-installed:
 .PHONY: ${VENV_DIR}/
 ${VENV_DIR}/: uv-installed
 	XDSL_VERSION_OVERRIDE="0+dynamic" uv sync ${VENV_EXTRAS}
+	@if [ ! -z "$(XDSL_MLIR_OPT_PATH)" ]; then \
+		ln -sf $(XDSL_MLIR_OPT_PATH) ${VENV_DIR}/bin/mlir-opt; \
+	fi
 
 # make sure `make venv` also works correctly
 .PHONY: venv
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7bba91ca5d..93232d8dc9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -101,6 +101,12 @@ cd xdsl
 make venv
 ```
 
+To make a custom mlir-opt available in the virtual environment, set the `XDSL_MLIR_OPT_PATH` variable when running `make venv`, like so:
+
+``` bash
+XDSL_MLIR_OPT_PATH=/PATH/TO/LLVM/BUILD/bin/mlir-opt make venv
+```
+
 #### If you can't use `uv`
 
 For some systems and workflows, changing to a new dependency management system