diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7458ef021ae8..72c5b6729890 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.16.2] - 12/20/2024
+
+### Fixed
+
+* Enabled `dpnp` in virtual environment on Windows platform [#2242](https://github.com/IntelPython/dpnp/pull/2242)
+
+
 ## [0.16.1] - 12/06/2024
 
 This is a bug-fix release.
diff --git a/dpnp/__init__.py b/dpnp/__init__.py
index be3b1bf949d4..1ad6aeccb55e 100644
--- a/dpnp/__init__.py
+++ b/dpnp/__init__.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 # *****************************************************************************
 
 import os
+import sys
 
 mypath = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 
@@ -45,10 +46,22 @@
     if hasattr(os, "add_dll_directory"):
         os.add_dll_directory(mypath)
         os.add_dll_directory(dpctlpath)
+
     os.environ["PATH"] = os.pathsep.join(
         [os.getenv("PATH", ""), mypath, dpctlpath]
     )
 
+    # For virtual environments on Windows, add folder with DPC++ libraries
+    # to the DLL search path
+    if sys.base_exec_prefix != sys.exec_prefix and os.path.isfile(
+        os.path.join(sys.exec_prefix, "pyvenv.cfg")
+    ):
+        dll_path = os.path.join(sys.exec_prefix, "Library", "bin")
+        if os.path.isdir(dll_path):
+            os.environ["PATH"] = os.pathsep.join(
+                [os.getenv("PATH", ""), dll_path]
+            )
+
 # Borrowed from DPCTL
 from dpctl.tensor import DLDeviceType