diff --git a/dev-project/docker-compose.yml b/dev-project/docker-compose.yml
index 09b5da3de..6803f05a3 100644
--- a/dev-project/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/dev-project/docker-compose.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ services:
       PATH: ${PIPELINEWISE_HOME}/.virtualenvs/pipelinewise/bin:${PATH}
     volumes:
       - ../:/opt/pipelinewise
+      # don't create container specific .virtualenvs files on host
+      - /opt/pipelinewise/dev-project/.virtualenvs/
       # mount pipelinewise pipe configuration directory to host for ease of troubleshooting
       - .pipelinewise:/root/.pipelinewise