diff --git a/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh b/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh
index aa5b61cb0c63ae3ca01451bc44bb3d47490a5b5e..078c786b51f6c22bdc9a207c7eea2d56f09e778a 100644
--- a/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh
+++ b/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ source /srv/$INSTALLATION_ROOT/spack/var/spack/environments/$SPACKIFIED_ENV/load
 # by the user using pip
 export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/opt/app-root/src/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages
 export PATH=$PATH:/opt/app-root/src/.local/bin
+# export also python modules installed in the base docker Collab image
+export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/usr/local/lib/python3.8/dist-packages
 
 # capture the env after spack activation
 cd /opt/app-root/src