diff --git a/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh b/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh
index 4f09729826a54e990335b167e4aeda20261c11c1..4f366ae0b576fcd92f63d2e810e16110968c19fd 100644
--- a/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh
+++ b/create_JupyterLab_kernel.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ env >> before.txt
 cp -r /srv/$INSTALLATION_ROOT/spack/.spack ~
 source /srv/$INSTALLATION_ROOT/spack/share/spack/setup-env.sh
 spack repo add /srv/$INSTALLATION_ROOT/ebrains-spack-builds
-spack env activate $SPACKIFIED_ENV
+# no need to activate as the env is already activated in the context it is used
+#spack env activate $SPACKIFIED_ENV
 
 module use /srv/$INSTALLATION_ROOT/spack/share/spack/modules/linux-centos7-broadwell/
 source /srv/$INSTALLATION_ROOT/spack/var/spack/environments/$SPACKIFIED_ENV/loads