diff --git a/.evergreen/scripts/install-dependencies.sh b/.evergreen/scripts/install-dependencies.sh
index ec389690ca..5425d10c8c 100755
--- a/.evergreen/scripts/install-dependencies.sh
+++ b/.evergreen/scripts/install-dependencies.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ if [ -f $HERE/env.sh ]; then
   . $HERE/env.sh
 fi
 
+# Set up the default bin directory.
+if [ -z "${PYMONGO_BIN_DIR:-}" ]; then
+  PYMONGO_BIN_DIR="$HOME/.local/bin"
+  export PATH="$PYMONGO_BIN_DIR:$PATH"
+fi
+
 # Helper function to pip install a dependency using a temporary python env.
 function _pip_install() {
   _HERE=$(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE:-$0})
@@ -41,10 +47,6 @@ if ! command -v just &>/dev/null; then
   if [ "Windows_NT" = "${OS:-}" ]; then
     _TARGET="--target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc"
   fi
-  if [ -z "${PYMONGO_BIN_DIR:-}" ]; then
-    echo "Please install just!"
-    exit 1
-  fi
   _BIN_DIR=$PYMONGO_BIN_DIR
   echo "Installing just..."
   mkdir -p "$_BIN_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
@@ -56,10 +58,6 @@ fi
 
 # Ensure uv is installed.
 if ! command -v uv &>/dev/null; then
-  if [ -z "${PYMONGO_BIN_DIR:-}" ]; then
-    echo "Please install uv!"
-    exit 1
-  fi
   _BIN_DIR=$PYMONGO_BIN_DIR
   echo "Installing uv..."
   # On most systems we can install directly.
diff --git a/.evergreen/scripts/utils.py b/.evergreen/scripts/utils.py
index c9195b638a..7a8f9640f8 100644
--- a/.evergreen/scripts/utils.py
+++ b/.evergreen/scripts/utils.py
@@ -193,6 +193,6 @@ def run_command(cmd: str | list[str], **kwargs: Any) -> None:
 
 def create_archive() -> str:
     run_command("git add .", cwd=ROOT)
-    run_command('git commit -m "add files"', check=False, cwd=ROOT)
+    run_command('git commit --no-verify -m "add files"', check=False, cwd=ROOT)
     run_command(f"git archive -o {TMP_DRIVER_FILE} HEAD", cwd=ROOT)
     return TMP_DRIVER_FILE
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 369e688b1e..e0b6260e21 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -231,6 +231,17 @@ the pages will re-render and the browser will automatically refresh.
 - Run `just setup-tests encryption`.
 - Run the tests with `just run-tests`.
 
+To test with `encryption` and `PyOpenSSL`, use `just setup-tests encryption pyopenssl`.
+
+### PyOpenSSL tests
+
+- Run `just run-server` to start the server.
+- Run `just setup-tests default_sync pyopenssl`.
+- Run the tests with `just run-tests`.
+
+Note: `PyOpenSSL` is not used in async tests, but you can use `just setup-tests default_async pyopenssl`
+to verify that PyMongo falls back to the standard library `OpenSSL`.
+
 ### Load balancer tests
 
 - Install `haproxy` (available as `brew install haproxy` on macOS).