diff --git a/veilid-python/update_schema.sh b/veilid-python/update_schema.sh
index 41f2366c..43db5dba 100755
--- a/veilid-python/update_schema.sh
+++ b/veilid-python/update_schema.sh
@@ -2,16 +2,27 @@
 set -eo pipefail
 SCRIPTDIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
 
-VEILID_SERVER=$SCRIPTDIR/../target/debug/veilid-server
+# If $VEILID_SERVER is set, use that, otherwise find a valid Veilid server by looking in the usual places
+if [ -z "${VEILID_SERVER}" ]; then
+    for VEILID_SERVER_CANDIDATE in ${SCRIPTDIR}/../target/debug/veilid-server; do
+        echo -n "Trying Veilid server at ${VEILID_SERVER_CANDIDATE}..."
+        if [ -f "${VEILID_SERVER_CANDIDATE}" ]; then
+            echo " found!"
+            VEILID_SERVER="${VEILID_SERVER_CANDIDATE}"
+            break
+        else
+            echo " not found."
+        fi
+    done
+fi
 
-# Ensure executable exists
-if [ ! -f "$VEILID_SERVER" ]; then
-    echo "$VEILID_SERVER does not exist. Build with cargo build."
+# If $VEILID_SERVER is still not set, or if it doesn't actually exist, bail
+if [[ -z "${VEILID_SERVER}" || ! -f "${VEILID_SERVER}" ]]; then
+    echo "No valid in-tree Veilid server was found. Go to the top level directory, run 'cargo build', then change back to this directory and run this script again."
     exit 1
 fi
 
 # Produce schema from veilid-server
-$VEILID_SERVER --emit-schema Request > $SCRIPTDIR/veilid/schema/Request.json
-$VEILID_SERVER --emit-schema RecvMessage > $SCRIPTDIR/veilid/schema/RecvMessage.json
-
-
+for SCHEMA in "Request" "RecvMessage"; do
+    echo -n "Updating ${SCHEMA}..." && ${VEILID_SERVER} --emit-schema ${SCHEMA} > $SCRIPTDIR/veilid/schema/${SCHEMA} && echo " done." || echo " error!"
+done