diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c9b70ed..848d1ef 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
 # Rust builds
 /target
 
+# Python bytecode
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+
 # Environment files
 .env
 .envrc
diff --git a/scripts/action_validation/validate.py b/scripts/action_validation/validate.py
index 9a3c545..efd91a5 100644
--- a/scripts/action_validation/validate.py
+++ b/scripts/action_validation/validate.py
@@ -73,9 +73,13 @@ def validate_workflows() -> None:
 def main() -> int:
     text = ACTION.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     cargo_toml = (ROOT / "Cargo.toml").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    gitignore = (ROOT / ".gitignore").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     blocks = run_blocks(text)
     shell = "\n".join(blocks)
 
+    require("__pycache__/" in gitignore, "Python bytecode caches must be ignored")
+    require("*.py[cod]" in gitignore, "Python bytecode files must be ignored")
+
     cargo_version = re.search(r'^version = "([^"]+)"$', cargo_toml, re.MULTILINE)
     action_version = re.search(
         r"(?m)^  version:\n    description:.*\n    required: false\n"