diff --git a/.devcontainer/post-start.sh b/.devcontainer/post-start.sh
index d23a875..34b084f 100755
--- a/.devcontainer/post-start.sh
+++ b/.devcontainer/post-start.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+set -u
+
+# Ensure that the colrev package is available before using it. When the
+# Codespaces image cache does not include the dependency, installing it on
+# demand keeps the setup reproducible for new workspaces as well as locally.
+if ! command -v colrev >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  if ! python -m pip install --no-cache-dir "git+https://github.com/CoLRev-Environment/colrev"; then
+    echo "Warning: Failed to install colrev automatically." >&2
+  fi
+fi
+
 colrev install all_internal_packages
 # Pull Docker images
 for repo in pandoc/latex:3.2.0 lfoppiano/grobid:0.8.1 jbarlow83/ocrmypdf:latest; do