diff --git a/src/binding.cc b/src/binding.cc
index cae0aab..cc88a2d 100644
--- a/src/binding.cc
+++ b/src/binding.cc
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 #include <node.h>
 #include <Python.h>
 
+#include <dlfcn.h>
+
 #include "py_object_wrapper.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 
@@ -28,9 +30,21 @@ Handle<Value> import(const Arguments& args) {
 
 
 void init (Handle<Object> exports) {
+
+    // simple hack to avoid errors when loading numpy .so
+    {
+      void* handle = dlopen("libpython2.7.so", RTLD_LAZY | RTLD_GLOBAL);
+      dlclose(handle);
+    }
+
     HandleScope scope;
     Py_Initialize();
 
+    PyObject* sysPath = PySys_GetObject((char*)"path");
+    PyObject* curDir = PyString_FromString("python");
+    PyList_Insert(sysPath, 0, curDir);
+    Py_DECREF(curDir);
+
     PyObjectWrapper::Initialize();
 
     // module.exports.import