diff --git a/dev/runcpu.sh b/dev/runcpu.sh
index 6ed7a8a..4cc774d 100755
--- a/dev/runcpu.sh
+++ b/dev/runcpu.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ export OMP_NUM_THREADS=1
 export NANOCHAT_BASE_DIR="$HOME/.cache/nanochat"
 mkdir -p $NANOCHAT_BASE_DIR
 command -v uv &> /dev/null || curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
-[ -d ".venv" ] || uv venv
 uv sync --extra cpu
 source .venv/bin/activate
 if [ -z "$WANDB_RUN" ]; then
diff --git a/miniseries.sh b/miniseries.sh
index 9a4512b..d63e078 100644
--- a/miniseries.sh
+++ b/miniseries.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ mkdir -p $NANOCHAT_BASE_DIR
 if [ -z "$SKIP_SETUP" ]; then
     # uv
     command -v uv &> /dev/null || curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
-    [ -d ".venv" ] || uv venv
     uv sync --extra gpu
     source .venv/bin/activate
 
diff --git a/run1000.sh b/run1000.sh
index 5d0b7dc..fee274e 100644
--- a/run1000.sh
+++ b/run1000.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ export OMP_NUM_THREADS=1
 export NANOCHAT_BASE_DIR="$HOME/.cache/nanochat"
 mkdir -p $NANOCHAT_BASE_DIR
 command -v uv &> /dev/null || curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
-[ -d ".venv" ] || uv venv
 uv sync --extra gpu
 source .venv/bin/activate
 if [ -z "$WANDB_RUN" ]; then
diff --git a/speedrun.sh b/speedrun.sh
index 8fff564..7f4ce91 100644
--- a/speedrun.sh
+++ b/speedrun.sh
@@ -20,9 +20,7 @@ mkdir -p $NANOCHAT_BASE_DIR
 
 # install uv (if not already installed)
 command -v uv &> /dev/null || curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
-# create a .venv local virtual environment (if it doesn't exist)
-[ -d ".venv" ] || uv venv
-# install the repo dependencies
+# create a .venv local virtual environment (if it doesn't exist) and install the repo dependencies
 uv sync --extra gpu
 # activate venv so that `python` uses the project's venv instead of system python
 source .venv/bin/activate