diff --git a/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh b/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh
index 41c4ad5e76123f4519d3114fb550b51059785c1d..40ce5dde1deb311339264918d19c650b92651b92 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