diff --git a/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yaml
index ba3904fc..0d4c1905 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pypi-publish.yaml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
         poetry dynamic-versioning
         make gen-project
         make project/json/nmdc_submission_schema.json
+        cp -r project src/nmdc_submission_schema
 
     - name: Build source and wheel archives
       run: poetry build
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7441594d..67b97c07 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -139,3 +139,8 @@ dmypy.json
 .pyre/
 
 /examples/output
+
+# A copy of the project directory is moved here
+# temporarily before `poetry build`. This is to
+# make sure we don't commit the copy.
+src/nmdc_submission_schema/project
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 90342d52..1184201b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,12 @@ description = "The home of the NMDC submission schema. *Not* the home of sheets_
 authors = ["Mark Andrew Miller <mam@lbl.gov>"]
 license = "MIT"
 readme = "README.md"
-include = ["README.md", "src/nmdc_submission_schema/schema", "project"]
+include = [
+    # These files are copied from the top-level project folder at build time. Without
+    # the copy step they end up in a weird location when installed via wheel.
+    # See: https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry/issues/7153
+    { path = "src/nmdc_submission_schema/project/**/*", format = [ "sdist", "wheel" ] }
+]
 
 # note that the nmdc-schema is not imported as a module,
 #   but one file from the nmdc-schema is accessed via sheets_and_friends/tsv_in/import_slots_regardless.tsv
diff --git a/src/nmdc_submission_schema/__init__.py b/src/nmdc_submission_schema/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b