diff --git a/ct/archivebox.sh b/ct/archivebox.sh
index d2850c813..cad62292c 100644
--- a/ct/archivebox.sh
+++ b/ct/archivebox.sh
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ function update_script() {
   fi
 
   NODE_VERSION="22" NODE_MODULE="@postlight/parser@latest,single-file-cli@latest" setup_nodejs
+  export UV_PYTHON_INSTALL_DIR="/opt/archivebox/python"
   PYTHON_VERSION="3.13" setup_uv
 
   ensure_dependencies chromium
@@ -40,15 +41,41 @@ function update_script() {
   systemctl stop archivebox
   msg_ok "Stopped Service"
 
-  msg_info "Upgrading Playwright"
-  $STD uv pip install playwright --system --break-system-packages
-  $STD playwright install-deps chromium
-  msg_ok "Upgraded Playwright"
+  # Earlier installs used the system interpreter, which caps ArchiveBox at 0.7.4.
+  if [[ ! -x /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox ]]; then
+    msg_info "Moving ArchiveBox to its own Python 3.13 environment"
+    $STD uv venv --python 3.13 /opt/archivebox/venv
+    # Keep whatever port this container already answers on, or a reverse proxy in front
+    # of it would silently stop resolving.
+    local port
+    port="$(awk -F: '/^ExecStart=/ {print $NF}' /etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service 2>/dev/null)"
+    [[ "$port" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || port=5797
+    cat <<EOF >/etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service
+[Unit]
+Description=ArchiveBox Server
+After=network.target
+
+[Service]
+User=archivebox
+WorkingDirectory=/opt/archivebox/data
+ExecStart=/opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox server 0.0.0.0:${port}
+Restart=always
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
+EOF
+    systemctl daemon-reload
+    msg_ok "Moved ArchiveBox to its own Python 3.13 environment (port ${port})"
+  fi
 
   msg_info "Updating ArchiveBox"
+  $STD uv pip install --python /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/python --upgrade archivebox playwright
+  $STD /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/playwright install-deps chromium
+  chown -R archivebox:archivebox /opt/archivebox/python /opt/archivebox/venv
+  # Without this a shell still reaches the old 0.7.4 entry point against a 0.9 collection.
+  ln -sf /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox /usr/local/bin/archivebox
   cd /opt/archivebox/data
-  $STD uv pip install --system --break-system-packages --upgrade --no-reinstall archivebox
-  sudo -u archivebox archivebox init
+  $STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox init
   msg_ok "Updated ArchiveBox"
 
   msg_info "Starting Service"
@@ -65,4 +92,4 @@ description
 msg_ok "Completed successfully!\n"
 echo -e "${CREATING}${GN}${APP} setup has been successfully initialized!${CL}"
 echo -e "${INFO}${YW}Access it using the following URL:${CL}"
-echo -e "${GATEWAY}${BGN}http://${IP}:8000/admin/login${CL}"
+echo -e "${GATEWAY}${BGN}http://${IP}:5797/admin/login${CL}"
diff --git a/install/archivebox-install.sh b/install/archivebox-install.sh
index 5ae2c25e9..db3c9fdcb 100644
--- a/install/archivebox-install.sh
+++ b/install/archivebox-install.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ update_os
 msg_info "Installing Dependencies"
 $STD apt-get install -y \
   git \
-  expect \
   libssl-dev \
   libldap2-dev \
   libsasl2-dev \
@@ -26,51 +25,33 @@ $STD apt-get install -y \
   chromium
 msg_ok "Installed Dependencies"
 
-msg_info "Installing Python Dependencies"
-$STD apt-get install -y \
-  python3-ldap \
-  python3-msgpack \
-  python3-regex
-msg_ok "Installed Python Dependencies"
-
 NODE_VERSION="22" NODE_MODULE="@postlight/parser@latest,single-file-cli@latest" setup_nodejs
+# ArchiveBox drops privileges on import, so its interpreter may not sit in root's home.
+export UV_PYTHON_INSTALL_DIR="/opt/archivebox/python"
 PYTHON_VERSION="3.13" setup_uv
 
-msg_info "Installing Playwright"
-$STD uv pip install playwright --system --break-system-packages
-$STD playwright install-deps chromium
-msg_ok "Installed Playwright"
-
 msg_info "Installing ArchiveBox"
 mkdir -p /opt/archivebox/{data,.npm,.cache,.local}
 $STD adduser --system --shell /bin/bash --gecos 'Archive Box User' --group --disabled-password --home /home/archivebox archivebox
-chown -R archivebox:archivebox /opt/archivebox/{data,.npm,.cache,.local}
+# A venv, not --system: the system interpreter is 3.11 and silently caps us at 0.7.4.
+$STD uv venv --python 3.13 /opt/archivebox/venv
+$STD uv pip install --python /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/python archivebox playwright
+$STD /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/playwright install-deps chromium
+ln -sf /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox /usr/local/bin/archivebox
+chown -R archivebox:archivebox /opt/archivebox
 chmod -R 755 /opt/archivebox/data
-$STD uv pip install archivebox --system --break-system-packages
-cd /opt/archivebox/data
-expect <<EOF
-set timeout -1
-log_user 0
-
-spawn sudo -u archivebox playwright install chromium
-spawn sudo -u archivebox archivebox setup
-
-expect "Username"
-send "\r"
-
-expect "Email address"
-send "\r"
-
-expect "Password"
-send "community-scripts.org\r"
-
-expect "Password (again)"
-send "community-scripts.org\r"
-
-expect eof
-EOF
 msg_ok "Installed ArchiveBox"
 
+msg_info "Initializing ArchiveBox"
+cd /opt/archivebox/data
+$STD sudo -u archivebox /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox init
+$STD sudo -u archivebox env \
+  DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME=admin \
+  DJANGO_SUPERUSER_EMAIL=admin@archivebox.local \
+  DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD=community-scripts.org \
+  /opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox manage createsuperuser --noinput
+msg_ok "Initialized ArchiveBox"
+
 msg_info "Creating Service"
 cat <<EOF >/etc/systemd/system/archivebox.service
 [Unit]
@@ -80,7 +61,7 @@ After=network.target
 [Service]
 User=archivebox
 WorkingDirectory=/opt/archivebox/data
-ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/archivebox server 0.0.0.0:8000
+ExecStart=/opt/archivebox/venv/bin/archivebox server 0.0.0.0:5797
 Restart=always
 
 [Install]