diff --git a/DEVELOPER.md b/DEVELOPER.md
index 201816c73..340925923 100644
--- a/DEVELOPER.md
+++ b/DEVELOPER.md
@@ -55,7 +55,24 @@ C_INCLUDE_PATH=/path/to/include LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/lib python -m build
 
    ```bash
    python3 -c "import confluent_kafka; print('Setup successful!')"
-   ```
+
+#### Local Setup with UV
+
+Alternative setup instructions tested with python 3.11
+
+```bash
+# Modify pyproject.toml to require python version >=3.11
+# This fixes the cel-python dependency conflict
+uv venv --python 3.11
+source .venv/bin/activate
+
+uv sync --extra dev --extra tests
+uv pip install trivup setuptools
+pytest tests/
+
+# When making changes, change project.version in pyproject.toml before re-running:
+uv sync --extra dev --extra tests
+```
 
 <!-- markdownlint-enable MD029 -->
 
diff --git a/src/confluent_kafka/src/Producer.c b/src/confluent_kafka/src/Producer.c
index 0e3d4a307..8b3f71885 100644
--- a/src/confluent_kafka/src/Producer.c
+++ b/src/confluent_kafka/src/Producer.c
@@ -420,6 +420,37 @@ static PyObject *Producer_flush (Handle *self, PyObject *args,
         return cfl_PyInt_FromInt(qlen);
 }
 
+
+static PyObject *Producer_close(Handle *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwargs) {
+        rd_kafka_resp_err_t err;
+        CallState cs;
+
+        if (!self->rk)
+            Py_RETURN_TRUE;
+
+        CallState_begin(self, &cs);
+
+		/* Flush any pending messages (wait indefinitely to ensure delivery) */
+		err = rd_kafka_flush(self->rk, -1);
+
+		/* Destroy the producer (even if flush had issues) */
+		rd_kafka_destroy(self->rk);
+		self->rk = NULL;
+
+		if (!CallState_end(self, &cs))
+			return NULL;
+
+		/* If flush failed, warn but don't suppress original exception */
+		if (err != RD_KAFKA_RESP_ERR_NO_ERROR) {
+			PyErr_WarnFormat(PyExc_RuntimeWarning, 1,
+					"Producer flush failed during close: %s",
+					rd_kafka_err2str(err));
+		}
+
+        Py_RETURN_TRUE;
+}
+
+
 /**
  * @brief Validate arguments and parse all messages in the batch
  * @param self Producer handle
@@ -906,27 +937,7 @@ static PyObject *Producer_exit (Handle *self, PyObject *args) {
 			      &exc_type, &exc_value, &exc_traceback))
 		return NULL;
 
-	/* Cleanup: flush pending messages and destroy producer */
-	if (self->rk) {
-		CallState_begin(self, &cs);
-
-		/* Flush any pending messages (wait indefinitely to ensure delivery) */
-		err = rd_kafka_flush(self->rk, -1);
-
-		/* Destroy the producer (even if flush had issues) */
-		rd_kafka_destroy(self->rk);
-		self->rk = NULL;
-
-		if (!CallState_end(self, &cs))
-			return NULL;
-
-		/* If flush failed, warn but don't suppress original exception */
-		if (err != RD_KAFKA_RESP_ERR_NO_ERROR) {
-			PyErr_WarnFormat(PyExc_RuntimeWarning, 1,
-					"Producer flush failed during context exit: %s",
-					rd_kafka_err2str(err));
-		}
-	}
+    Producer_close(self, (PyObject *)NULL, (PyObject *)NULL);
 
 	/* Return None to propagate any exceptions from the with block */
 	Py_RETURN_NONE;
@@ -983,7 +994,15 @@ static PyMethodDef Producer_methods[] = {
 	  "  :rtype: int\n"
 	  "\n"
 	},
-
+	{ "close", (PyCFunction)Producer_close, METH_VARARGS|METH_KEYWORDS,
+          ".. py:function:: close()\n"
+          "\n"
+	  "   Request to close the producer on demand.\n"
+	  "\n"
+      "  :rtype: bool\n"
+      "  :returns: True if producer close requested successfully, False otherwise\n"
+      "\n"
+	},
 	{ "flush", (PyCFunction)Producer_flush, METH_VARARGS|METH_KEYWORDS,
           ".. py:function:: flush([timeout])\n"
           "\n"
diff --git a/tests/test_Producer.py b/tests/test_Producer.py
index f94e4903f..0d7f1d843 100644
--- a/tests/test_Producer.py
+++ b/tests/test_Producer.py
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ def on_delivery(err, msg):
     except KafkaException as e:
         assert e.args[0].code() in (KafkaError._TIMED_OUT, KafkaError._TRANSPORT)
 
+    assert p.close(), "Failed to validate that producer was closed."
+
 
 def test_produce_timestamp():
     """ Test produce() with timestamp arg """
@@ -239,6 +241,8 @@ def test_transaction_api():
     assert ex.value.args[0].fatal() is False
     assert ex.value.args[0].txn_requires_abort() is False
 
+    assert p.close(), "The producer was not closed"
+
 
 def test_purge():
     """
@@ -274,6 +278,8 @@ def on_delivery(err, msg):
     p.flush(0.002)
     assert cb_detector["on_delivery_called"]
 
+    assert p.close(), "The producer was not closed"
+
 
 def test_producer_bool_value():
     """
@@ -283,6 +289,7 @@ def test_producer_bool_value():
 
     p = Producer({})
     assert bool(p)
+    assert p.close(), "The producer was not fully closed"
 
 
 def test_produce_batch_basic_types_and_data():
@@ -1395,3 +1402,24 @@ def __init__(self, config):
 
     # Test __len__() - should return 0 for closed producer (safe, no crash)
     assert len(producer) == 0
+
+
+def test_producer_close():
+    """
+    Ensures the producer close can be requested on demand
+    """
+    conf = {
+        'debug': 'all',
+        'socket.timeout.ms': 10,
+        'error_cb': error_cb,
+        'message.timeout.ms': 10
+    }
+    producer = Producer(conf)
+    cb_detector = {"on_delivery_called": False}
+
+    def on_delivery(err, msg):
+        cb_detector["on_delivery_called"] = True
+
+    producer.produce('mytopic', value='somedata', key='a key', callback=on_delivery)
+    assert producer.close(), "The producer could not be closed on demand"
+    assert cb_detector["on_delivery_called"], "The delivery callback should have been called by flushing during close"