diff --git a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/scratch/exploration.ipynb.tmpl b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/scratch/exploration.ipynb.tmpl
index 04bb261cd..42164dff0 100644
--- a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/scratch/exploration.ipynb.tmpl
+++ b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/scratch/exploration.ipynb.tmpl
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 {
  "cells": [
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": 2,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "%load_ext autoreload\n",
+    "%autoreload 2"
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
@@ -22,7 +32,7 @@
     "sys.path.append('../src')\n",
     "from {{.project_name}} import main\n",
     "\n",
-    "main.get_taxis().show(10)"
+    "main.get_taxis(spark).show(10)"
    {{else}}
     "spark.range(10)"
    {{end -}}
diff --git a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/dlt_pipeline.ipynb.tmpl b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/dlt_pipeline.ipynb.tmpl
index 4f50294f6..b152e9a30 100644
--- a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/dlt_pipeline.ipynb.tmpl
+++ b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/dlt_pipeline.ipynb.tmpl
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
     {{- if (eq .include_python "yes") }}
     "@dlt.view\n",
     "def taxi_raw():\n",
-    "  return main.get_taxis()\n",
+    "  return main.get_taxis(spark)\n",
     {{else}}
     "\n",
     "@dlt.view\n",
diff --git a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/notebook.ipynb.tmpl b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/notebook.ipynb.tmpl
index 0ab61db2c..a228f8d18 100644
--- a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/notebook.ipynb.tmpl
+++ b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/notebook.ipynb.tmpl
@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@
     "This default notebook is executed using Databricks Workflows as defined in resources/{{.project_name}}_job.yml."
    ]
   },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": 2,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "%load_ext autoreload\n",
+    "%autoreload 2"
+   ]
+  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": 0,
@@ -37,7 +47,7 @@
    {{- if (eq .include_python "yes") }}
     "from {{.project_name}} import main\n",
     "\n",
-    "main.get_taxis().show(10)"
+    "main.get_taxis(spark).show(10)"
    {{else}}
     "spark.range(10)"
    {{end -}}
diff --git a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/{{.project_name}}/main.py.tmpl b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/{{.project_name}}/main.py.tmpl
index 4fe5ac8f4..48529e974 100644
--- a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/{{.project_name}}/main.py.tmpl
+++ b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/src/{{.project_name}}/main.py.tmpl
@@ -1,16 +1,12 @@
-{{- /*
-We use pyspark.sql rather than DatabricksSession.builder.getOrCreate()
-for compatibility with older runtimes. With a new runtime, it's
-equivalent to DatabricksSession.builder.getOrCreate().
-*/ -}}
 from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
 
-def get_taxis():
-  spark = SparkSession.builder.getOrCreate()
+def get_taxis(spark: SparkSession):
   return spark.read.table("samples.nyctaxi.trips")
 
 def main():
-  get_taxis().show(5)
+  from databricks.connect import DatabricksSession as SparkSession
+  spark = SparkSession.builder.getOrCreate()
+  get_taxis(spark).show(5)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
   main()
diff --git a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/tests/main_test.py.tmpl b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/tests/main_test.py.tmpl
index a7a6afe0a..8ae043a65 100644
--- a/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/tests/main_test.py.tmpl
+++ b/libs/template/templates/default-python/template/{{.project_name}}/tests/main_test.py.tmpl
@@ -1,21 +1,15 @@
-from databricks.connect import DatabricksSession
-from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
+from databricks.connect import DatabricksSession as SparkSession
+from pytest import fixture
 from {{.project_name}} import main
 
-# Create a new Databricks Connect session. If this fails,
-# check that you have configured Databricks Connect correctly.
-# See https://docs.databricks.com/dev-tools/databricks-connect.html.
-{{/*
-  The below works around a problematic error message from Databricks Connect.
-  The standard SparkSession is supported in all configurations (workspace, IDE,
-  all runtime versions, CLI). But on the CLI it currently gives a confusing
-  error message if SPARK_REMOTE is not set. We can't directly use
-  DatabricksSession.builder in main.py, so we're re-assigning it here so
-  everything works out of the box, even for CLI users who don't set SPARK_REMOTE.
-*/}}
-SparkSession.builder = DatabricksSession.builder
-SparkSession.builder.getOrCreate()
 
-def test_main():
-    taxis = main.get_taxis()
+@fixture(scope="session")
+def spark():
+    spark = SparkSession.builder.getOrCreate()
+    yield spark
+    spark.stop()
+
+
+def test_main(spark: SparkSession):
+    taxis = main.get_taxis(spark)
     assert taxis.count() > 5