diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dce7ee2..2947958 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ By default Pyright for Python is set to target a specific pyright version and ne
 
 If you would rather not have to update your installation every time a new pyright release is created then you can automatically use the latest available pyright version by setting the environment variable `PYRIGHT_PYTHON_FORCE_VERSION` to `latest`.
 
+To force the use of bundled pyright version and skip the automatic version check at start-up,
+set the environment variable `PYRIGHT_PYTHON_OFFLINE` to a truthy value, e.g. 1, t, on, or true.
+
 ## Configuration
 
 You can configure Pyright for Python using environment variables.
diff --git a/src/pyright/_utils.py b/src/pyright/_utils.py
index aba347f..df0ee2d 100644
--- a/src/pyright/_utils.py
+++ b/src/pyright/_utils.py
@@ -34,16 +34,26 @@ def install_pyright(args: tuple[object, ...], *, quiet: bool | None) -> Path:
     which are used to determine whether or not certain warnings / logs will be printed.
     """
     version = _get_configured_pyright_version()
-    if version == 'latest':
-        version = node.latest('pyright')
-    else:
-        if _should_warn_version(args=args, quiet=quiet):
+
+    use_bundled = env_to_bool('PYRIGHT_PYTHON_USE_BUNDLED_PYRIGHT', default=True)
+    offline_mode = env_to_bool('PYRIGHT_PYTHON_OFFLINE', default=False)
+    if offline_mode:
+        if version != __pyright_version__ or not use_bundled:
             print(
-                f'WARNING: there is a new pyright version available (v{version} -> v{get_latest_version()}).\n'
-                + 'Please install the new version or set PYRIGHT_PYTHON_FORCE_VERSION to `latest`\n'
+                f'Offline mode: unable to use a pyright version other than the bundled one ({__pyright_version__}).\n'
+                + 'Please remove incompatible PYRIGHT_PYTHON_* environment variables',
+                file=sys.stderr,
             )
+            sys.exit(1)
+    elif version == 'latest':
+        version = node.latest('pyright')
+    elif _should_warn_version(args=args, quiet=quiet):
+        print(
+            f'WARNING: there is a new pyright version available (v{version} -> v{get_latest_version()}).\n'
+            + 'Please install the new version or set PYRIGHT_PYTHON_FORCE_VERSION to `latest`\n'
+        )
 
-    if version == __pyright_version__ and env_to_bool('PYRIGHT_PYTHON_USE_BUNDLED_PYRIGHT', default=True):
+    if version == __pyright_version__ and use_bundled:
         bundled_path = Path(__file__).parent.joinpath('dist')
         if bundled_path.exists():
             log.debug('using bundled pyright at %s', bundled_path)
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index d3735f0..e37efb5 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -185,7 +185,6 @@ def test_output_json_no_warning() -> None:
 
 @network
 def test_ignore_warnings_config_no_warning() -> None:
-    """If the --outputjson flag is set then no warning is emitted"""
     proc = subprocess.run(
         [sys.executable, '-m', 'pyright', '--version'],
         check=True,
@@ -201,6 +200,28 @@ def test_ignore_warnings_config_no_warning() -> None:
     assert 'WARNING: there is a new pyright version available' not in output
 
 
+@pytest.mark.xfail(
+    condition=sys.platform != 'linux',
+    reason='Network namespace isolation requires Linux',
+)
+def test_offline_mode_ok() -> None:
+    is_root = os.geteuid() == 0
+    user_ns = () if is_root else ('--user', '--map-root-user')
+    proc = subprocess.run(
+        ['unshare', *user_ns, '--net', sys.executable, '-m', 'pyright', '--version'],
+        check=True,
+        stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+        stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+        env=dict(
+            os.environ,
+            PYRIGHT_PYTHON_OFFLINE='1',
+        ),
+    )
+    assert not proc.stderr
+    match = assert_matches(VERSION_REGEX, proc.stdout.decode('utf-8'))
+    assert match.group(1) == __pyright_version__
+
+
 @network
 def test_nodeenv() -> None:
     """Ensure nodeenv is successfully downloaded and used"""