diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c3ba83f..b520ed7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 *~
 *.swp
 *.py[co]
+ve
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b12c67e..5a78348 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,28 +1,33 @@
 APT_PROXY ?=
 SUDO ?=
+PYTHON3 ?= python3.10
 
 all:
 
 purge:
-	$(SUDO) docker-compose down -v --remove-orphans
+	$(SUDO) docker compose down -v --remove-orphans
 
 stop:
-	$(SUDO) docker-compose down
+	$(SUDO) docker compose down
 
 build:
-	$(SUDO) docker-compose build
+	$(SUDO) docker compose build
 
 run: build
-	$(SUDO) docker-compose up -d
+	$(SUDO) docker compose up -d
 
 develop: run
-	$(SUDO) docker-compose logs --follow
-
-test:
-	@$(SUDO) docker-compose exec api pytest tests -vv
+	$(SUDO) docker compose logs --follow
 
 reload:
-	@$(SUDO) docker-compose exec api reload-gunicorn
+	@$(SUDO) docker compose exec api reload-gunicorn
 
 exec:
-	@$(SUDO) docker-compose exec api bash
\ No newline at end of file
+	@$(SUDO) docker compose exec api bash
+
+ve:
+	${PYTHON3} -m venv ve
+	ve/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+unittest: ve
+	ve/bin/pytest -v tests
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 31884fc..0204fb0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,23 +18,19 @@ Run `make reload` to reload the gunicorn workers. If you think that your changes
 
 Run `make purge` to remove the container.
 
+### Virtual environment
+
+Run `make ve` to create the virtual environment.
+
 ### Tests
 
-You can use `make test` to execute tests inside the container.
+You can use `make unittest` to execute tests inside the virtual environment.
 
 ## Running FastAPI from the terminal
 
 Alternatively, you can also run the application from your terminal with `uvicorn`. See [FastAPI docs](https://fastapi.tiangolo.com/#installation) on how to install the required packages.
 
-Remember to also install the dependencies defined in `requirements.txt`!
-
-```console
-pip install -r requirements.txt
-```
-
-Finally, run `uvicorn seravo.main:app --reload` to start our base application.
-
-You can run the tests with `pytest -vv tests`, granted you have `pytest` installed.
+You can then run `./ve/bin/uvicorn seravo.main:app --reload` to start our base application.
 
 ## The tasks
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 2135346..a13bb56 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-version: "3.7"
-
 services:
   api:
     image: seravo-api
@@ -11,4 +9,3 @@ services:
     ports: ["8080:8000"]
     volumes:
       - "./seravo/:/app/seravo:rw"
-      - "./tests/:/app/tests:rw"
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 8c25c5e..0d9af12 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-fastapi==0.108
-pytest==7.4
-httpx==0.26
\ No newline at end of file
+fastapi==0.115.5
+pytest==8.3.3
+httpx==0.27.2
\ No newline at end of file