diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 1a4b3d65c..57625f83c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -353,6 +353,17 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade -r requirements.txt
 
+      - name: Install Rust toolchain
+        run: |
+          curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y
+          echo "$HOME/.cargo/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+
+      - name: Verify Rust installation
+        run: |
+          source $HOME/.cargo/env
+          rustc --version
+          cargo --version
+
       # For Rocky Linux, we can't cache the dependencies of Open RV 
       # because there is not enough room in the cache (10GB limit) for all platforms.
 
diff --git a/cmake/dependencies/patch/pyopengl-accelerate.patch b/cmake/dependencies/patch/pyopengl-accelerate.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index a4f18b7b2..000000000
--- a/cmake/dependencies/patch/pyopengl-accelerate.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/accelerate/src/vbo.pyx b/accelerate/src/vbo.pyx
-index 13f9e99d..6e92c059 100644
---- a/accelerate/src/vbo.pyx
-+++ b/accelerate/src/vbo.pyx
-@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
- """Cython-coded VBO implementation"""
- #cython: language_level=3
- import ctypes, weakref
-+from ctypes import c_long as long
- from OpenGL_accelerate.formathandler cimport FormatHandler
- from OpenGL import error
- from OpenGL._bytes import bytes,unicode
diff --git a/cmake/dependencies/python3.cmake b/cmake/dependencies/python3.cmake
index a0a5031d5..8f8337b78 100644
--- a/cmake/dependencies/python3.cmake
+++ b/cmake/dependencies/python3.cmake
@@ -275,16 +275,23 @@ ELSE()
   )
 ENDIF()
 
-# List of packages that are safe to install from pre-built wheels. All other packages (those with C/C++/Rust extensions) will be built from source to ensure
-# proper linking against our custom Python build. Packages are built from source unless explicitly listed here. This includes: pure Python packages, build tools
-# that don't need ABI compatibility, and packages with data files only.
-SET(RV_PYTHON_WHEEL_SAFE
+# Build dependencies that must be installed FIRST before building other packages. These are installed from wheels in a separate pip command to ensure they're
+# available when packages like PyOpenGL_accelerate need Cython to compile .pyx files.
+SET(RV_PYTHON_BUILD_DEPS
     "pip" # Package installer (pure Python)
     "setuptools" # Build system (pure Python)
     "wheel" # Wheel format support (pure Python)
-    "Cython" # Build tool (compiles Python to C, but the tool itself can use pre-built wheels)
+    "Cython" # Build tool - MUST be installed before packages with .pyx files
     "meson-python" # Build backend (pure Python)
     "ninja" # Build tool (native but doesn't link to Python)
+    CACHE STRING "Build dependencies to install first (from wheels)"
+)
+
+# List of packages that are safe to install from pre-built wheels. All other packages (those with C/C++/Rust extensions) will be built from source to ensure
+# proper linking against our custom Python build. Packages are built from source unless explicitly listed here. This includes: pure Python packages, build tools
+# that don't need ABI compatibility, and packages with data files only.
+SET(RV_PYTHON_WHEEL_SAFE
+    ${RV_PYTHON_BUILD_DEPS} # Include build deps in wheel-safe list
     "PyOpenGL" # OpenGL bindings without acceleration (pure Python)
     "certifi" # SSL certificate bundle (just data files)
     "six" # Python 2/3 compatibility (pure Python)
@@ -293,9 +300,15 @@ SET(RV_PYTHON_WHEEL_SAFE
     CACHE STRING "Packages safe to install from wheels (pure Python or build tools)"
 )
 
-# Convert list to comma-separated string for pip's --only-binary flag
+# Convert lists to space/comma-separated strings for pip commands
 STRING(REPLACE ";" "," _wheel_safe_packages "${RV_PYTHON_WHEEL_SAFE}")
 
+# Phase 1: Install build dependencies for phase 2. Note: RV_PYTHON_BUILD_DEPS is kept as a CMake list (semicolon-separated) so it expands to separate arguments.
+SET(_build_deps_install_command
+    "${_python3_executable}" -s -E -I -m pip install --upgrade --no-cache-dir ${RV_PYTHON_BUILD_DEPS}
+)
+
+# Phase 2: Install main requirements (with build-from-source for native extensions)
 SET(_requirements_install_command
     ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E env ${_otio_debug_env}
 )
@@ -375,43 +388,20 @@ EXTERNALPROJECT_ADD(
   USES_TERMINAL_BUILD TRUE
 )
 
-# ##############################################################################################################################################################
-# This is temporary until the patch gets into the official PyOpenGL repo.      #
-# ##############################################################################################################################################################
-# Only for Apple Intel. Windows and Linux uses the requirements.txt file to install PyOpenGL-accelerate.
-IF(APPLE
-   AND RV_TARGET_APPLE_X86_64
-)
-  MESSAGE(STATUS "Patching PyOpenGL and building PyOpenGL from source")
-  SET(_patch_pyopengl_command
-      patch -p1 < ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/patch/pyopengl-accelerate.patch
-  )
-
-  # TODO: pyopengl is now at 3.1.10. Need to check if this is an improvement Still need the patch
-  # https://github.com/mcfletch/pyopengl/blob/master/accelerate/src/vbo.pyx https://github.com/mcfletch/pyopengl/compare/release-3.1.8...3.1.10
-  EXTERNALPROJECT_ADD(
-    pyopengl_accelerate
-    URL "https://github.com/mcfletch/pyopengl/archive/refs/tags/release-3.1.8.tar.gz"
-    URL_MD5 "d7a9e2f8c2d981b58776ded865b3e22a"
-    DOWNLOAD_NAME release-3.1.8.tar.gz
-    DOWNLOAD_DIR ${RV_DEPS_DOWNLOAD_DIR}
-    DOWNLOAD_EXTRACT_TIMESTAMP TRUE
-    SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/pyopengl_accelerate
-    PATCH_COMMAND ${_patch_pyopengl_command}
-    CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
-    BUILD_COMMAND "${_python3_executable}" -m pip install ./accelerate
-    INSTALL_COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E touch ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/pyopengl_accelerate/.pip_installed
-    BUILD_BYPRODUCTS ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/pyopengl_accelerate/setup.py
-    DEPENDS ${${_python3_target}-requirements-flag}
-    BUILD_IN_SOURCE TRUE
-    USES_TERMINAL_BUILD TRUE
-  )
-
-  # Ensure pyopengl_accelerate is built as part of the dependencies target
-  ADD_DEPENDENCIES(dependencies pyopengl_accelerate)
-ENDIF()
-# ##############################################################################################################################################################
+# Phase 1 flag: Build dependencies (Cython, etc.)
+SET(${_python3_target}-build-deps-flag
+    ${_install_dir}/${_python3_target}-build-deps-flag
+)
+
+ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND(
+  COMMENT "Installing Python build dependencies (pip, setuptools, wheel, Cython, etc.)"
+  OUTPUT ${${_python3_target}-build-deps-flag}
+  COMMAND ${_build_deps_install_command}
+  COMMAND cmake -E touch ${${_python3_target}-build-deps-flag}
+  DEPENDS ${_python3_target}
+)
 
+# Phase 2 flag: Main requirements (depends on build deps being installed first)
 SET(${_python3_target}-requirements-flag
     ${_install_dir}/${_python3_target}-requirements-flag
 )
@@ -421,7 +411,7 @@ ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND(
   OUTPUT ${${_python3_target}-requirements-flag}
   COMMAND ${_requirements_install_command}
   COMMAND cmake -E touch ${${_python3_target}-requirements-flag}
-  DEPENDS ${_python3_target} ${_requirements_output_file} ${_requirements_input_file}
+  DEPENDS ${_python3_target} ${${_python3_target}-build-deps-flag} ${_requirements_output_file} ${_requirements_input_file}
 )
 
 # Test the Python distribution after requirements are installed
diff --git a/src/build/requirements.txt.in b/src/build/requirements.txt.in
index 16c09f0f6..f5e26a869 100644
--- a/src/build/requirements.txt.in
+++ b/src/build/requirements.txt.in
@@ -6,27 +6,19 @@
 #       Pure Python packages and build tools safe to install from wheels are listed in RV_PYTHON_WHEEL_SAFE in python3.cmake.
 #       This approach ensures safety by default: new packages will be built from source unless explicitly marked as wheel-safe.
 
-pip                     # License: MIT License (MIT)
-setuptools              # License: MIT License
-wheel                   # License: MIT License (MIT)
+pip==24.0               # License: MIT License (MIT)
+setuptools==69.5.1      # License: MIT License
+wheel==0.43.0           # License: MIT License (MIT)
 numpy==@_numpy_version@ # License: BSD License (BSD-3-Clause) - Required by PySide6
 opentimelineio==@_opentimelineio_version@ # License: Other/Proprietary License (Modified Apache 2.0 License)
-PyOpenGL                # License: BSD License (BSD)
-
-# MacOS only - PyOpenGL_accelerate is built from source in python3.cmake as a workaround until the fix
-# is merged in the main branch.
-# See https://github.com/mcfletch/pyopengl/issues/147 and https://github.com/mcfletch/pyopengl/pull/146
-
-# PyOpenGL_accelerate as issue with native arm64 build on MacOS.
-# Use PyOpenGL_accelerate only on x86_64 platform.
-PyOpenGL_accelerate ; (platform_system=='Windows' or platform_system=='Linux') and platform_machine=='x86_64' # License: BSD License (BSD)
+PyOpenGL==3.1.7         # License: BSD License (BSD)
+PyOpenGL_accelerate==3.1.10 # License: BSD License (BSD) - v3.1.10 includes Python 3 fix for Cython compatibility
 
 # Additional packages required by RV and for testing the Python distribution
 
-certifi                 # License: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL 2.0) (MPL-2.0) - required by test_python.py
-six                     # License: MIT License (MIT)
-packaging               # License: Apache Software License, BSD License
-requests                # License: Apache Software License (Apache 2.0)
-cryptography            # License: Apache Software License, BSD License ((Apache-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause) AND PSF-2.0)
-pydantic                # License: MIT License (MIT)
-
+certifi==2024.2.2       # License: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL 2.0) (MPL-2.0)
+six==1.16.0             # License: MIT License (MIT)
+packaging==24.0         # License: Apache Software License, BSD License
+requests==2.31.0        # License: Apache Software License (Apache 2.0)
+cryptography==42.0.5    # License: Apache Software License, BSD License ((Apache-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause) AND PSF-2.0)
+pydantic==2.7.1         # License: MIT License (MIT)