diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ff4687b400c..5f82fcd284b 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -518,6 +518,9 @@ AS_IF([test x"${PYTHON}" != x""], [AC_PATH_PROG([PYTHON], [$PYTHON])])
 
 dnl Require a minimum Python version
 AM_PATH_PYTHON([3.6])
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([PYTHON], [python])
+AC_SUBST([PYTHON_LIBS])
+AC_SUBST([PYTHON_CFLAGS])
 
 AC_PROG_LN_S
 AC_PROG_MKDIR_P
diff --git a/mk/python.mk b/mk/python.mk
index 9e7dd173fc5..6f543aeaf71 100644
--- a/mk/python.mk
+++ b/mk/python.mk
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 .PHONY: pylint
 pylint: $(PYCHECKFILES)
-	PYTHONPATH=$(abs_top_builddir)/python \
+	PYTHONPATH=$(abs_top_builddir)/python:$(abs_top_builddir)/python/pacemaker/.libs \
 	pylint --rcfile $(top_srcdir)/python/pylintrc $(PYCHECKFILES)
 
 # Disabled warnings:
@@ -27,5 +27,5 @@ pylint: $(PYCHECKFILES)
 # Disable docstrings warnings on unit tests.
 .PHONY: pyflake
 pyflake: $(PYCHECKFILES)
-	PYTHONPATH=$(abs_top_builddir)/python \
+	PYTHONPATH=$(abs_top_builddir)/python:$(abs_top_builddir)/python/pacemaker/.libs \
 	flake8 --ignore=W503,E402,E501,F401 --per-file-ignores="tests/*:D100,D101,D102,D104" $(PYCHECKFILES)
diff --git a/python/Makefile.am b/python/Makefile.am
index 7d2508434fb..aa6976a73fe 100644
--- a/python/Makefile.am
+++ b/python/Makefile.am
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2023-2024 the Pacemaker project contributors
+# Copyright 2023-2025 the Pacemaker project contributors
 #
 # The version control history for this file may have further details.
 #
@@ -22,4 +22,5 @@ check-local:
 	if [ "x$(top_srcdir)" != "x$(top_builddir)" ]; then \
 		cp -r $(top_srcdir)/python/* $(abs_top_builddir)/python/; \
 	fi
-	PYTHONPATH=$(top_builddir)/python $(PYTHON) -m unittest discover -v -s $(top_builddir)/python/tests
+	PYTHONPATH=$(top_builddir)/python:$(top_builddir)/python/pacemaker/.libs \
+	$(PYTHON) -m unittest discover -v -s $(top_builddir)/python/tests
diff --git a/python/pacemaker/Makefile.am b/python/pacemaker/Makefile.am
index 27e6d6888fe..8e9e82347dd 100644
--- a/python/pacemaker/Makefile.am
+++ b/python/pacemaker/Makefile.am
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2023-2024 the Pacemaker project contributors
+# Copyright 2023-2025 the Pacemaker project contributors
 #
 # The version control history for this file may have further details.
 #
@@ -9,9 +9,18 @@
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/mk/common.mk
 
+pyexec_LTLIBRARIES = _pcmksupport.la
+
+_pcmksupport_la_SOURCES = pcmksupport.c
+_pcmksupport_la_CPPFLAGS = $(PYTHON_CFLAGS)
+_pcmksupport_la_LDFLAGS = $(AM_LDFLAGS) -module -avoid-version -export-symbols-regex PyInit__pcmksupport
+_pcmksupport_la_LIBADD = $(top_builddir)/lib/pacemaker/libpacemaker.la
+
 pkgpython_PYTHON = __init__.py 		\
 		   _library.py 		\
-		   exitstatus.py
+		   exceptions.py 	\
+		   exitstatus.py 	\
+		   resource.py
 
 nodist_pkgpython_PYTHON = buildoptions.py
 
diff --git a/python/pacemaker/__init__.py b/python/pacemaker/__init__.py
index e6b1b2a685f..a4afbc90a8c 100644
--- a/python/pacemaker/__init__.py
+++ b/python/pacemaker/__init__.py
@@ -3,5 +3,7 @@
 __copyright__ = "Copyright 2023-2024 the Pacemaker project contributors"
 __license__ = "GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 or later (LGPLv2.1+)"
 
-from pacemaker.buildoptions import BuildOptions
-from pacemaker.exitstatus import ExitStatus
+from .buildoptions import BuildOptions
+from .exitstatus import ExitStatus
+from . import exceptions
+from . import resource
diff --git a/python/pacemaker/exceptions.py b/python/pacemaker/exceptions.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..93e71918dd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/pacemaker/exceptions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+"""A module providing exceptions that can be raised by the Pacemaker module."""
+
+__all__ = ["PacemakerError"]
+__copyright__ = "Copyright 2025 the Pacemaker project contributors"
+__license__ = "GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 or later (LGPLv2.1+)"
+
+
+class PacemakerError(Exception):
+    """Base exception class for all Pacemaker errors."""
diff --git a/python/pacemaker/pcmksupport.c b/python/pacemaker/pcmksupport.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..09c6ab2c4fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/pacemaker/pcmksupport.c
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2025 the Pacemaker project contributors
+ *
+ * The version control history for this file may have further details.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * version 2.1 or later (LGPLv2.1+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
+ */
+
+#include <Python.h>
+#include <libxml/tree.h>
+
+#include <pacemaker.h>
+
+/* This file defines a c-based low level module that wraps libpacemaker
+ * functions and returns python objects.  This is necessary because most
+ * libpacemaker functions return an xmlNode **, which needs to be coerced
+ * through the PyCapsule type into something that libxml2's python
+ * bindings can work with.
+ */
+
+/* Base exception class for any errors in the _pcmksupport module */
+static PyObject *PacemakerError;
+
+PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit__pcmksupport(void);
+
+static PyObject *
+py_list_standards(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
+{
+    int rc;
+    xmlNodePtr xml = NULL;
+
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "")) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    rc = pcmk_list_standards(&xml);
+    if (rc != pcmk_rc_ok) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PacemakerError, pcmk_rc_str(rc));
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    return PyCapsule_New(xml, "xmlNodePtr", NULL);
+}
+
+static PyMethodDef pcmksupportMethods[] = {
+    { "list_standards", py_list_standards, METH_VARARGS, NULL },
+    { NULL, NULL, 0, NULL }
+};
+
+static struct PyModuleDef moduledef = {
+    PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
+    "_pcmksupport",
+    NULL,
+    -1,
+    pcmksupportMethods,
+    NULL,
+    NULL,
+    NULL,
+    NULL
+};
+
+PyMODINIT_FUNC
+PyInit__pcmksupport(void)
+{
+    PyObject *module = PyModule_Create(&moduledef);
+
+    if (module == NULL) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    /* Add the base exception to the module */
+    PacemakerError = PyErr_NewException("_pcmksupport.PacemakerError", NULL, NULL);
+
+    /* FIXME: When we can support Python >= 3.10, we can use PyModule_AddObjectRef */
+    if (PyModule_AddObject(module, "PacemakerError", PacemakerError) < 0) {
+        Py_XDECREF(PacemakerError);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    return module;
+}
diff --git a/python/pacemaker/resource.py b/python/pacemaker/resource.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1abf1c25311
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/pacemaker/resource.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+"""A module for managing cluster resources."""
+
+__all__ = ["list_standards"]
+__copyright__ = "Copyright 2025 the Pacemaker project contributors"
+__license__ = "GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 or later (LGPLv2.1+)"
+
+import libxml2
+
+import _pcmksupport
+from pacemaker.exceptions import PacemakerError
+
+
+def list_standards():
+    """Return a list of supported resource standards."""
+    try:
+        xml = _pcmksupport.list_standards()
+    except _pcmksupport.PacemakerError as e:
+        raise PacemakerError(*e.args) from None
+
+    doc = libxml2.xmlDoc(xml)
+
+    return [item.getContent() for item in doc.xpathEval("/pacemaker-result/standards/item")]
diff --git a/python/pylintrc b/python/pylintrc
index bb453f32a8c..0f9529e331e 100644
--- a/python/pylintrc
+++ b/python/pylintrc
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ unsafe-load-any-extension=no
 # A comma-separated list of package or module names from where C extensions may
 # be loaded. Extensions are loading into the active Python interpreter and may
 # run arbitrary code
-extension-pkg-allow-list=
+extension-pkg-allow-list=_pcmksupport
 
 # Minimum supported python version
 # CHANGED
diff --git a/rpm/pacemaker.spec.in b/rpm/pacemaker.spec.in
index 9072783aa8b..9fcf19af860 100644
--- a/rpm/pacemaker.spec.in
+++ b/rpm/pacemaker.spec.in
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ Requires:      %{python_name}-%{name} = %{version}-%{release}
 Requires:      %{python_path}
 BuildRequires: %{python_name}-devel
 BuildRequires: %{python_name}-setuptools
+BuildRequires: %{python_name}-libxml2
 
 # Pacemaker requires a minimum libqb functionality
 Requires:      libqb >= 1.0.1
@@ -373,7 +374,6 @@ License:       LGPL-2.1-or-later
 Summary:       Python libraries for Pacemaker
 Requires:      %{python_path}
 Requires:      %{pkgname_pcmk_libs} = %{version}-%{release}
-BuildArch:     noarch
 
 %description -n %{python_name}-%{name}
 Pacemaker is an advanced, scalable High-Availability cluster resource
@@ -516,8 +516,9 @@ popd
 
 %check
 make %{_smp_mflags} check
-{ cts/cts-scheduler --run load-stopped-loop \
-  && cts/cts-cli -V \
+{ PYTHONPATH=python/pacemaker/.libs \
+  cts/cts-scheduler --run load-stopped-loop \
+  && PYTHONPATH=python/pacemaker/.libs cts/cts-cli -V \
   && touch .CHECKED
 } 2>&1 | sed 's/[fF]ail/faiil/g'  # prevent false positives in rpmlint
 [ -f .CHECKED ] && rm -f -- .CHECKED
@@ -747,6 +748,7 @@ exit 0
 %doc ChangeLog.md
 
 %files -n %{python_name}-%{name}
+%{python3_sitearch}/_pcmksupport.so
 %{python3_sitelib}/pacemaker/
 %{python3_sitelib}/pacemaker-*.egg-info
 %exclude %{python3_sitelib}/pacemaker/_cts/