diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index bccd5128e..6b84b5be6 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -24,8 +24,9 @@ Everything that is needed to build by default is MIT licensed. If you specifical
 
 Compiling in Linux
 -----
+First download the tarball you want to use from the releases section.
 
-To build and install, issue:
+Then, To build and install, issue:
 
 ```
 sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake
diff --git a/python/README.md b/python/README.md
index c09589289..32f7db30f 100644
--- a/python/README.md
+++ b/python/README.md
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ pip install pycryptosat
 ```
 
 ## Compiling
-If you don't want to use the pip package, you can compile it as:
+If you don't want to use the pip package, you can compile it locally.
+
+You must first build and install CryptoMiniSat using the instructions in the root README.
+
+Then you can compile the python package from the root directory (the one with setup.py) as:
 
 ```
 apt-get install python-dev