diff --git a/pybind/llarp/context.cpp b/pybind/llarp/context.cpp
index 3298f14da..a179a0a32 100644
--- a/pybind/llarp/context.cpp
+++ b/pybind/llarp/context.cpp
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ namespace tooling
   void
   HiveContext_Init(py::module& mod)
   {
-    py::class_<tooling::HiveContext>(mod, "HiveContext")
+    using HiveContext_ptr = std::shared_ptr<HiveContext>;
+    py::class_<tooling::HiveContext, HiveContext_ptr, llarp::Context>(mod, "HiveContext")
         .def("getRouterAsHiveRouter", &tooling::HiveContext::getRouterAsHiveRouter);
   }
 }  // namespace tooling