diff --git a/docs/python-programming-guide.md b/docs/python-programming-guide.md
index a840b9b34bb2fbecfde182acaa3fba99bbb79e29..4e84d23edf56b0a6b6fe3291744c269be0085b28 100644
--- a/docs/python-programming-guide.md
+++ b/docs/python-programming-guide.md
@@ -67,13 +67,20 @@ The script automatically adds the `pyspark` package to the `PYTHONPATH`.
 
 # Interactive Use
 
-The `pyspark` script launches a Python interpreter that is configured to run PySpark jobs.
-When run without any input files, `pyspark` launches a shell that can be used explore data interactively, which is a simple way to learn the API:
+The `pyspark` script launches a Python interpreter that is configured to run PySpark jobs. To use `pyspark` interactively, first build Spark, then launch it directly from the command line without any options:
+
+{% highlight bash %}
+$ sbt/sbt package
+$ ./pyspark
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+The Python shell can be used explore data interactively and is a simple way to learn the API:
 
 {% highlight python %}
 >>> words = sc.textFile("/usr/share/dict/words")
 >>> words.filter(lambda w: w.startswith("spar")).take(5)
 [u'spar', u'sparable', u'sparada', u'sparadrap', u'sparagrass']
+>>> help(pyspark) # Show all pyspark functions
 {% endhighlight %}
 
 By default, the `pyspark` shell creates SparkContext that runs jobs locally.
diff --git a/python/pyspark/shell.py b/python/pyspark/shell.py
index f6328c561f56259b5d36ad5b87d9d1b6379320ed..54ff1bf8e7c3ea63db72a5bd9015e26705948b9d 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/shell.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/shell.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ An interactive shell.
 This file is designed to be launched as a PYTHONSTARTUP script.
 """
 import os
+import pyspark
 from pyspark.context import SparkContext