diff --git a/extensions/positron-reticulate/package.json b/extensions/positron-reticulate/package.json
index c042d144a99b..c07dcfdfb3c6 100644
--- a/extensions/positron-reticulate/package.json
+++ b/extensions/positron-reticulate/package.json
@@ -18,11 +18,6 @@
     "lint": "eslint src --ext ts"
   },
   "contributes": {
-    "languageRuntimes": [
-      {
-        "languageId": "reticulate"
-      }
-    ],
     "configuration": {
       "type": "object",
       "title": "%configurationTitle%",
@@ -41,10 +36,6 @@
       }
     }
   },
-  "extensionDependencies": [
-    "ms-python.python",
-    "positron.positron-r"
-  ],
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/glob": "^7.2.0",
     "@types/mocha": "^9.1.0",
diff --git a/extensions/positron-reticulate/src/extension.ts b/extensions/positron-reticulate/src/extension.ts
index 564640026857..4578fb7d7f1d 100644
--- a/extensions/positron-reticulate/src/extension.ts
+++ b/extensions/positron-reticulate/src/extension.ts
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ class ReticulateRuntimeSession implements positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
 
 	private kernel: JupyterKernel | undefined;
 	public started = new Barrier();
-	private pythonSession: positron.LanguageRuntimeSession;
+	private pythonSession!: positron.LanguageRuntimeSession;
 
 	// To create a reticulate runtime session we need to first create a python
 	// runtime session using the exported interface from the positron-python
@@ -433,11 +433,11 @@ class ReticulateRuntimeSession implements positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
 		// Create the session itself.
 		const session = new ReticulateRuntimeSession(
 			rSession,
-			metadata,
 			sessionMetadata,
 			ReticulateRuntimeSessionType.Create,
 			progress
 		);
+		await session.initializePythonSession(metadata);
 
 		return session;
 	}
@@ -456,11 +456,11 @@ class ReticulateRuntimeSession implements positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
 		// Create the session itself.
 		const session = new ReticulateRuntimeSession(
 			rSession,
-			metadata,
 			sessionMetadata,
 			ReticulateRuntimeSessionType.Restore,
 			progress
 		);
+		await session.initializePythonSession(metadata);
 
 		return session;
 	}
@@ -620,15 +620,21 @@ class ReticulateRuntimeSession implements positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
 
 	constructor(
 		readonly rSession: positron.LanguageRuntimeSession,
-		runtimeMetadata: positron.LanguageRuntimeMetadata,
 		readonly sessionMetadata: positron.RuntimeSessionMetadata,
 		readonly sessionType: ReticulateRuntimeSessionType,
 		readonly progress: vscode.Progress<{ message?: string; increment?: number }>
 	) {
+		this.onDidReceiveRuntimeMessage = this._messageEmitter.event;
+		this.onDidChangeRuntimeState = this._stateEmitter.event;
+		this.onDidEndSession = this._exitEmitter.event;
+		this.onDidUpdateResourceUsage = this._resourceUsageEmitter.event;
+	}
+
+	private async initializePythonSession(runtimeMetadata: positron.LanguageRuntimeMetadata): Promise<void> {
 		// When the kernelSpec is undefined, the PythonRuntimeSession
 		// will perform a restore session.
 		let kernelSpec: JupyterKernelSpec | undefined = undefined;
-		if (sessionType === ReticulateRuntimeSessionType.Create) {
+		if (this.sessionType === ReticulateRuntimeSessionType.Create) {
 			kernelSpec = {
 				'argv': [],
 				'display_name': "Reticulate Python Session", // eslint-disable-line
@@ -651,16 +657,11 @@ class ReticulateRuntimeSession implements positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
 			};
 		}
 
-		this.onDidReceiveRuntimeMessage = this._messageEmitter.event;
-		this.onDidChangeRuntimeState = this._stateEmitter.event;
-		this.onDidEndSession = this._exitEmitter.event;
-		this.onDidUpdateResourceUsage = this._resourceUsageEmitter.event;
-
 		this.progress.report({ increment: 10, message: vscode.l10n.t('Creating the Python session') });
 
-		this.pythonSession = this.createPythonRuntimeSession(
+		this.pythonSession = await this.createPythonRuntimeSession(
 			runtimeMetadata,
-			sessionMetadata,
+			this.sessionMetadata,
 			kernelSpec
 		);
 	}
@@ -669,11 +670,14 @@ class ReticulateRuntimeSession implements positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
 		return this.pythonSession.getDynState();
 	}
 
-	createPythonRuntimeSession(runtimeMetadata: positron.LanguageRuntimeMetadata, sessionMetadata: positron.RuntimeSessionMetadata, kernelSpec?: JupyterKernelSpec): positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
+	async createPythonRuntimeSession(runtimeMetadata: positron.LanguageRuntimeMetadata, sessionMetadata: positron.RuntimeSessionMetadata, kernelSpec?: JupyterKernelSpec): Promise<positron.LanguageRuntimeSession> {
 		const api = vscode.extensions.getExtension('ms-python.python');
 		if (!api) {
 			throw new Error(vscode.l10n.t('Failed to find the Python extension API.'));
 		}
+		if (!api.isActive) {
+			await api.activate();
+		}
 
 		const pythonSession: positron.LanguageRuntimeSession = api.exports.positron.createPythonRuntimeSession(
 			runtimeMetadata,
@@ -875,7 +879,7 @@ class ReticulateRuntimeSession implements positron.LanguageRuntimeSession {
 					const metadata: positron.RuntimeSessionMetadata = { ...this.sessionMetadata, sessionId: `reticulate-python-${randomId}` };
 
 					// When the R session is ready, we can start a new Reticulate session.
-					this.pythonSession = this.createPythonRuntimeSession(
+					this.pythonSession = await this.createPythonRuntimeSession(
 						this.runtimeMetadata,
 						metadata,
 						kernelSpec