pythonnet · Metadorius · Mar 26, 2026 · Mar 27, 2026 · Mar 27, 2026 · Mar 27, 2026
diff --git a/AUTHORS.md b/AUTHORS.md
@@ -89,3 +89,4 @@
 -   Ehsan Iran-Nejad ([@eirannejad](https://github.com/eirannejad))
 -   ([@legomanww](https://github.com/legomanww))
 -   ([@gertdreyer](https://github.com/gertdreyer))
+-   Kerbiter ([@Metadorius](https://github.com/Metadorius))
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,12 +10,13 @@ This document follows the conventions laid out in [Keep a CHANGELOG][].
 ### Added
 
 -  Support `del obj[...]` for types derived from `IList<T>` and `IDictionary<K, V>`
+-  Support for .NET Framework 4.6.1 (#2701)
 
 ### Changed
 ### Fixed
 
 -  Fixed crash when trying to `del clrObj[...]` for non-arrays
-- ci: properly exclude job (#2542)
+-  ci: properly exclude job (#2542)
 
 ## [3.0.5](https://github.com/pythonnet/pythonnet/releases/tag/v3.0.5) - 2024-12-13
 

diff --git a/doc/source/python.rst b/doc/source/python.rst
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Mono (``mono``)
 
 .NET Framework (``netfx``)
     Default on Windows and also only supported there. Must be at least version
-    4.7.2.
+    4.6.1, with 4.7.2 or later recommended.
 
 .NET Core (``coreclr``)
     Self-contained is not supported, must be at least version 3.1.

diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ email = "[email protected]"
 Homepage = "https://pythonnet.github.io/"
 Sources = "https://github.com/pythonnet/pythonnet"
 
+[project.entry-points.pyinstaller40]
+hook-dirs = "pythonnet._pyinstaller:get_hook_dirs"
+
 [tool.setuptools]
 zip-safe = false
 py-modules = ["clr"]

diff --git a/pythonnet/_pyinstaller/__init__.py b/pythonnet/_pyinstaller/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import os
+
+def get_hook_dirs():
+    return [os.path.dirname(__file__)]
diff --git a/pythonnet/_pyinstaller/hook-clr.py b/pythonnet/_pyinstaller/hook-clr.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_data_files, collect_dynamic_libs
+
+try:
+    binaries = collect_dynamic_libs("pythonnet")
+    datas = collect_data_files("pythonnet")
+except Exception:
+    # name conflict with https://pypi.org/project/clr/, do not crash if just clr is present
+    binaries = []
+    datas = []
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def finalize_options(self):
 dotnet_libs = [
     DotnetLib(
         "python-runtime",
-        "src/runtime/Python.Runtime.csproj",
+        "src/compat/Python.Runtime.Compat.csproj",
         output="pythonnet/runtime",
     )
 ]

diff --git a/src/compat/Python.Runtime.Compat.csproj b/src/compat/Python.Runtime.Compat.csproj
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<!-- A dummy project to force MSBuild to package .NET 4.6.1 requirements -->
+<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <TargetFramework>net461</TargetFramework>
+    <OutputType>Library</OutputType>
+    <!-- Don't copy the dummy assembly/pdb to output; we only need the resolved references -->
+    <CopyBuildOutputToOutputDirectory>false</CopyBuildOutputToOutputDirectory>
+    <CopyOutputSymbolsToOutputDirectory>false</CopyOutputSymbolsToOutputDirectory>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\runtime\Python.Runtime.csproj" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+</Project>
diff --git a/src/runtime/Loader.cs b/src/runtime/Loader.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Text;
 
 namespace Python.Runtime
@@ -12,6 +13,22 @@ public unsafe static int Initialize(IntPtr data, int size)
         {
             try
             {
+                // On .NET Framework, the host is python.exe which has no binding
+                // redirects for netstandard2.0 shims (e.g. RuntimeInformation
+                // Version=0.0.0.0 vs the 4.0.2.0 shim on disk). Binding redirects
+                // via config files can't be injected after AppDomain creation, so
+                // resolve assemblies from our runtime directory directly.
+                AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve += (_, args) =>
+                {
+                    var name = new System.Reflection.AssemblyName(args.Name);
+                    var dir = Path.GetDirectoryName(typeof(Loader).Assembly.Location);
+                    var path = Path.Combine(dir, name.Name + ".dll");
+
+                    return File.Exists(path)
+                        ? System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom(path)
+                        : null;
+                };
+
                 var dllPath = Encodings.UTF8.GetString((byte*)data.ToPointer(), size);
 
                 if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(dllPath))