diff --git a/src/core/python/drjit_v.cpp b/src/core/python/drjit_v.cpp
index 12a82b5bf..5afb5545b 100644
--- a/src/core/python/drjit_v.cpp
+++ b/src/core/python/drjit_v.cpp
@@ -189,4 +189,3 @@ MI_PY_EXPORT(DrJit) {
     // Loop type alias
     m.attr("while_loop") = drjit.attr("while_loop");
 }
-
diff --git a/src/core/tests/test_variants.py b/src/core/tests/test_variants.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cd3c34563
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/tests/test_variants.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import pytest
+import mitsuba as mi
+
+
+def test01_variants_callbacks(variants_all_backends_once):
+    available = mi.variants()
+    if len(available) <= 1:
+        pytest.mark.skip("Test requires more than 1 enabled variant")
+
+    history = []
+    change_count = 0
+    def track_changes(old, new):
+        history.append((old, new))
+    def count_changes(old, new):
+        nonlocal change_count
+        change_count += 1
+
+    mi.detail.add_variant_callback(track_changes)
+    mi.detail.add_variant_callback(count_changes)
+    # Adding the same callback multiple times does nothing.
+    # It won't be called multiple times.
+    mi.detail.add_variant_callback(track_changes)
+    mi.detail.add_variant_callback(track_changes)
+
+    try:
+        previous = mi.variant()
+        base_i = available.index(previous)
+
+        expected = []
+        for i in range(1, len(available) + 1):
+            next_i = (base_i + i) % len(available)
+            next_variant = available[next_i]
+
+            assert next_variant != mi.variant()
+            mi.set_variant(next_variant)
+            expected.append((previous, next_variant))
+            previous = next_variant
+
+        assert len(expected) > 1
+        assert len(history) == len(expected)
+        assert change_count == len(expected)
+        for e, h in zip(expected, history):
+            assert h == e
+
+    finally:
+        # The callback shouldn't stay on even if the test fails.
+        mi.detail.remove_variant_callback(track_changes)
+
+    # Callback shouldn't be called anymore
+    len_e = len(expected)
+    next_variant = available[(available.index(mi.variant()) + 1) % len(available)]
+    with mi.util.scoped_set_variant(next_variant):
+        pass
+    assert len(expected) == len_e
diff --git a/src/python/alias.cpp b/src/python/alias.cpp
index b2ba1c6fe..f58090291 100644
--- a/src/python/alias.cpp
+++ b/src/python/alias.cpp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 namespace nb = nanobind;
 
 /**
- * On Windows the GIL is not held when we load DLLs due to potential deadlocks 
+ * On Windows the GIL is not held when we load DLLs due to potential deadlocks
  * with the Windows loader-lock.
  * (see https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/78076 that describes a similar
  * issue). Here, initialization of static variables is performed during DLL
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ PyObject *mi_dict = nullptr;
 /// Current variant (string)
 nb::object curr_variant;
 
+/// Set of user-provided callback functions to call when switching variants
+PyObject *variant_change_callbacks;
+
+
 nb::object import_with_deepbind_if_necessary(const char* name) {
 #if defined(__clang__) && !defined(__APPLE__)
     nb::int_ backupflags;
@@ -112,23 +116,50 @@ static void set_variant(nb::args args) {
     }
 
     if (!curr_variant.equal(new_variant)) {
-        curr_variant = new_variant;
-        nb::object curr_variant_module = variant_module(curr_variant);
+        nb::object new_variant_module = variant_module(new_variant);
 
-        nb::dict variant_dict = curr_variant_module.attr("__dict__");
+        nb::dict variant_dict = new_variant_module.attr("__dict__");
         for (const auto &k : variant_dict.keys())
             if (!nb::bool_(k.attr("startswith")("__")) &&
                 !nb::bool_(k.attr("endswith")("__")))
                 Safe_PyDict_SetItem(mi_dict, k.ptr(),
                     PyDict_GetItem(variant_dict.ptr(), k.ptr()));
 
-        if (new_variant.attr("startswith")(nb::make_tuple("llvm_", "cuda_"))) {
-            nb::module_ mi_python = nb::module_::import_("mitsuba.python.ad.integrators");
-            nb::steal(PyImport_ReloadModule(mi_python.ptr()));
-        }
+        const auto &callbacks = nb::borrow<nb::set>(variant_change_callbacks);
+        for (const auto &cb : callbacks)
+            cb(curr_variant, new_variant);
+
+        curr_variant = new_variant;
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * The given callable will be called each time the Mitsuba variable is changed.
+ * Note that callbacks are kept in a set: a given callback function will only be
+ * called once, even if it is added multiple times.
+ *
+ * `callback` will be called with the arguments `old_variant: str, new_variant: str`.
+ */
+static void add_variant_callback(const nb::callable &callback) {
+    nb::borrow<nb::set>(variant_change_callbacks).add(callback);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Removes the given `callback` callable from the list of callbacks to be called
+ * when the Mitsuba variant changes.
+ */
+static void remove_variant_callback(const nb::callable &callback) {
+    nb::borrow<nb::set>(variant_change_callbacks).discard(callback);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Removes all callbacks to be called when the Mitsuba variant changes.
+ */
+static void clear_variant_callbacks() {
+    nb::borrow<nb::set>(variant_change_callbacks).clear();
+}
+
+
 /// Fallback for when we're attempting to fetch variant-specific attribute
 static nb::object get_attr(nb::handle key) {
     if (PyDict_Contains(variant_modules, key.ptr()) == 1)
@@ -142,6 +173,7 @@ NB_MODULE(mitsuba_alias, m) {
     m.attr("__name__") = "mitsuba";
 
     curr_variant = nb::none();
+    variant_change_callbacks = PySet_New(nullptr);
 
     if (!variant_modules) {
         variant_modules = PyDict_New();
@@ -178,10 +210,15 @@ NB_MODULE(mitsuba_alias, m) {
     /// Only used for variant-specific attributes e.g. mi.scalar_rgb.T
     m.def("__getattr__", [](nb::handle key) { return get_attr(key); });
 
+    // `mitsuba.detail` submodule
+    nb::module_ mi_detail = m.def_submodule("detail");
+    mi_detail.def("add_variant_callback", add_variant_callback);
+    mi_detail.def("remove_variant_callback", remove_variant_callback);
+    mi_detail.def("clear_variant_callbacks", clear_variant_callbacks);
+
     /// Fill `__dict__` with all objects in `mitsuba_ext` and `mitsuba.python`
     mi_dict = m.attr("__dict__").ptr();
     nb::object mi_ext = import_with_deepbind_if_necessary("mitsuba.mitsuba_ext");
-    nb::object mi_python = nb::module_::import_("mitsuba.python");
     nb::dict mitsuba_ext_dict = mi_ext.attr("__dict__");
     for (const auto &k : mitsuba_ext_dict.keys())
         if (!nb::bool_(k.attr("startswith")("__")) &&
@@ -189,6 +226,8 @@ NB_MODULE(mitsuba_alias, m) {
             Safe_PyDict_SetItem(mi_dict, k.ptr(), mitsuba_ext_dict[k].ptr());
         }
 
+    // Import contents of `mitsuba.python` into top-level `mitsuba` module
+    nb::object mi_python = nb::module_::import_("mitsuba.python");
     nb::dict mitsuba_python_dict = mi_python.attr("__dict__");
     for (const auto &k : mitsuba_python_dict.keys())
         if (!nb::bool_(k.attr("startswith")("__")) &&
@@ -204,9 +243,12 @@ NB_MODULE(mitsuba_alias, m) {
         PyDict_Clear(mi_dict);
         mi_dict = nullptr;
 
+        PySet_Clear(variant_change_callbacks);
+        variant_change_callbacks = nullptr;
+
         if (variant_modules) {
             Py_DECREF(variant_modules);
-            variant_modules = nullptr; 
+            variant_modules = nullptr;
         }
     }));
 }
diff --git a/src/python/python/__init__.py b/src/python/python/__init__.py
index 636cdbd39..c937a75b7 100644
--- a/src/python/python/__init__.py
+++ b/src/python/python/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from .util import traverse, SceneParameters, render, cornell_box, variant_context
+from .util import traverse, SceneParameters, render, cornell_box, variant_context, scoped_set_variant
 from . import chi2
 from . import xml
 from . import ad
diff --git a/src/python/python/ad/integrators/__init__.py b/src/python/python/ad/integrators/__init__.py
index c83f8184a..01348a594 100644
--- a/src/python/python/ad/integrators/__init__.py
+++ b/src/python/python/ad/integrators/__init__.py
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 # Import/re-import all files in this folder to register AD integrators
-import importlib
 import mitsuba as mi
 
-if mi.variant() is not None and not mi.variant().startswith('scalar'):
+def integrators_variants_cb(old, new):
+    if new is None or new.startswith("scalar"):
+        return
+
+    import importlib
     from . import common
     importlib.reload(common)
 
@@ -21,4 +24,5 @@
     from . import prb_projective
     importlib.reload(prb_projective)
 
-del importlib, mi
+
+mi.detail.add_variant_callback(integrators_variants_cb)
diff --git a/src/python/python/util.py b/src/python/python/util.py
index dc32c5e0b..48d513744 100644
--- a/src/python/python/util.py
+++ b/src/python/python/util.py
@@ -704,3 +704,5 @@ def variant_context(*args) -> None:
         raise
     finally:
         mi.set_variant(old_variant)
+
+scoped_set_variant = variant_context