diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cba647e50..01c91a997 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,6 +112,12 @@ C and C++ compilation
 Ccache is configured by the base element. Any compilation that honours ccache
 will be cached.
 
+PyPI
+----
+
+The pypi element will bind mount a PyPI mirror from the cache dir and configure
+pip and easy-install to use it.
+
 Design
 ======
 
diff --git a/elements/pypi/README.md b/elements/pypi/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cb3786f09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/pypi/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+Inject a PyPI mirror
+====================
+
+Bind mounts a PyPI mirror from ~/.cache/image-create/pypi/mirror into the build
+environment and temporarily overwrites /root/.pip.conf and .pydistutils.cfg to
+use it.
+
+When online, the master pypi index is supplied as an extra-url, so uncached
+dependencies will still be available. When offline, only the mirror is used - a
+stale mirror will cause build failures.
+
+[jeepyb](https://github.com/openstack-infra/jeepyb) can be useful in making a
+partial PyPI mirror suitable for building images. For instance:
+
+ * sudo apt-get install  libxml2-dev libxslt-dev libmysqlclient-dev libpq-dev \
+   libnspr4-dev pkg-config libsqlite3-dev libzmq-dev libffi-dev libldap2-dev \
+   libsasl2-dev
+
+ * pip install https://github.com/openstack-infra/jeepyb
+
+ * cat << EOF > mirror.yaml
+   cache-root: /home/USER/.cache/image-create/pypi/download
+
+   mirrors:
+    - name: openstack
+      projects:
+        - https://github.com/openstack/requirements
+      output: /home/USER/.cache/image-create/pypi/mirror
+
+ * mkdir -p /home/USER/.cache/image-create/pypi/{download,mirror}
+
+ * run-mirror -b remotes/origin/master --verbose -c mirror.yaml
+   # This creates and updates the mirror.
+
+If you have additional packages that are not identified in the global openstack
+requirements project, you can include them:
+
+ * pip install -d ~/.cache/image-create/pypi/download/pip/openstack \
+   heat-cfntools distribute os-apply-config
+   run-mirror -b remotes/origin/master --verbose -c mirror.yaml --no-download
diff --git a/elements/pypi/extra-data.d/00-mount-pypi-mirror b/elements/pypi/extra-data.d/00-mount-pypi-mirror
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..c5c522358
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/pypi/extra-data.d/00-mount-pypi-mirror
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eu
+
+MIRROR_SOURCE=~/.cache/image-create/pypi/mirror/
+MIRROR_TARGET=$TMP_MOUNT_PATH/tmp/pypi
+
+sudo mkdir -p $MIRROR_TARGET
+sudo mount --bind $MIRROR_SOURCE $TMP_MOUNT_PATH/tmp/pypi
diff --git a/elements/pypi/post-install.d/00-unconfigure-pypi-mirror b/elements/pypi/post-install.d/00-unconfigure-pypi-mirror
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..100543831
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/pypi/post-install.d/00-unconfigure-pypi-mirror
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eu
+
+if [ -e ~/.pip/pip.conf.orig ]; then
+    mv ~/.pip/pip.conf{.orig,}
+else
+    rm ~/.pip/pip.conf
+fi
+
+
+if [ -e ~/.pydistutils.cfg.orig ]; then
+    mv ~/.pydistutils.cfg{.orig,}
+else
+    rm ~/.pydistutils.cfg
+fi
diff --git a/elements/pypi/pre-install.d/00-configure-pypi-mirror b/elements/pypi/pre-install.d/00-configure-pypi-mirror
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..402951c51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/pypi/pre-install.d/00-configure-pypi-mirror
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eu
+
+PYPIURL=file:///tmp/pypi
+mkdir -p ~/.pip
+
+if [ -e ~/.pip/pip.conf ]; then
+    mv ~/.pip/pip.conf{,.orig}
+fi
+
+if [ -e ~/.pydistutils.cfg ]; then
+    mv ~/.pydistutils.cfg{,.orig}
+fi
+
+if [ -z $DIB_OFFLINE ]; then
+    ONLINE="extra-index-url = https://pypi.python.org/simple"
+else
+    ONLINE=""
+fi
+
+cat <<EOF > ~/.pip/pip.conf
+[global]
+index-url = $PYPIURL
+$ONLINE
+log = $HOME/pip.log
+EOF
+
+cat <<EOF > ~/.pydistutils.cfg
+[easy_install]
+index_url = $PYPIURL
+EOF