diff --git a/gen_proto.sh b/gen_proto.sh
index 04939b1..5f47f7f 100755
--- a/gen_proto.sh
+++ b/gen_proto.sh
@@ -27,5 +27,8 @@ rm -rf "$extension_dir"
 cp -fr "$submodule_dir"/extensions "$extension_dir"
 find "$extension_dir" -type f -exec chmod u+rw {} +
 
+# Ensure there's an __init__.py file in the extension directory
+touch $extension_dir/__init__.py
+
 # Remove the temporary work dir
 rm -rf "$tmp_dir"
diff --git a/src/substrait/extensions/__init__.py b/src/substrait/extensions/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29