diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index a30273970..3370b7b5a 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -51,19 +51,22 @@ Here's how you can set up your local development environment to contribute.
 
 #### Option 1: Use UV (recommended)
 
-1. Make sure you have Python3.8+ installed (for example, Python 3.11), create a virtual environment,
+1. Make sure you have Python3.12 installed, create a virtual environment,
    and activate it. If you're new to this, here's one way that we recommend:
    1. Install uv: https://github.com/astral-sh/uv?tab=readme-ov-file#getting-started
-   2. Install some version of Python greater than Python3.8. For example, to install
-      Python3.11:
+      or make sure it is up-to-date with:
       ```
-      uv python install 3.11
+      uv self update
       ```
-   3. Create a virtual environment:
+   3. Install Python3.12:
       ```
-      uv venv -p 3.11 --seed
+      uv python install 3.12
       ```
-   4. Activate it. On Linux, this is `. .venv/bin/activate`, on Windows `.\.venv\Scripts\activate`.
+   4. Create a virtual environment:
+      ```
+      uv venv -p 3.12 --seed
+      ```
+   5. Activate it. On Linux, this is `. .venv/bin/activate`, on Windows `.\.venv\Scripts\activate`.
 2. Install Narwhals: `uv pip install -e .`
 3. Install test requirements: `uv pip install -r requirements-dev.txt`
 4. Install docs requirements: `uv pip install -r docs/requirements-docs.txt`