diff --git a/automated_ingestion/__init__.py b/automated_ingestion/__init__.py
index de197f548..401409576 100644
--- a/automated_ingestion/__init__.py
+++ b/automated_ingestion/__init__.py
@@ -29,22 +29,13 @@
 
 See ``docs/automated-ingestion-pipeline-plan.md``.
 
-Importing this package puts the repository root on ``sys.path``. That is
-unusual and deliberate. The Dagster+ image copies the repository to
-``/opt/dagster/app`` but never installs it -- the generated requirements omit
-the project, and the build template only runs ``pip install .`` when a
-``setup.py`` exists -- so ``db`` and ``domain`` are importable only while that
-directory happens to be on the path. It is, when Dagster loads the code
-location; it is not guaranteed in the separate process that executes a step,
-which is where the loader's imports actually run. Locally the editable install
-hides the difference entirely, so the failure appears only once deployed.
+The image installs this repository as a package (see
+``dagster_cloud_post_install.sh``), so ``db``, ``domain``, and the rest resolve
+from site-packages rather than from whatever happens to be on ``sys.path``. That
+matters because the process that loads the code location and the process that
+executes a step do not agree about the path, and the loader's imports run in the
+second one. Locally an editable install produces the same result, which is why
+the difference is invisible until deployment.
 """
 
-import sys as _sys
-from pathlib import Path as _Path
-
-_REPOSITORY_ROOT = _Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
-if str(_REPOSITORY_ROOT) not in _sys.path:
-    _sys.path.insert(0, str(_REPOSITORY_ROOT))
-
 # ============= EOF =============================================
diff --git a/automated_ingestion/tests/test_connectivity.py b/automated_ingestion/tests/test_connectivity.py
index 35d4d83ae..622f9f1e7 100644
--- a/automated_ingestion/tests/test_connectivity.py
+++ b/automated_ingestion/tests/test_connectivity.py
@@ -57,23 +57,12 @@ def test_loading_definitions_does_not_import_db_engine():
     assert result.stdout.strip() == "False", result.stdout
 
 
-def test_importing_the_package_makes_the_repository_importable():
-    # The deployed image never installs this project, so `db` and `domain`
-    # resolve only if the repository root is on sys.path. Locally an editable
-    # install provides that and hides the difference, which is why this failed
-    # only once deployed -- the code location loaded fine and the step that
-    # imported db died.
-    import sys
-
-    import automated_ingestion
-
-    assert str(automated_ingestion._REPOSITORY_ROOT) in sys.path
-
-
 def test_db_imports_from_an_unrelated_working_directory():
     # Reproduces the deployed condition: a process whose cwd is not the
     # repository. The lazy imports in the resource and the connectivity asset
     # run at step execution, not at load, so this is the path that broke.
+    # In the image this passes because the repository is installed; locally
+    # because the editable install has the same effect.
     import subprocess
     import sys
 
diff --git a/dagster_cloud_post_install.sh b/dagster_cloud_post_install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..c093ae1c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dagster_cloud_post_install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Runs inside the Dagster+ image build, after the repository has been copied to
+# /opt/dagster/app and the pinned requirements installed.
+#
+# Installs this repository as a package so `db`, `domain`, `services`, `core`,
+# and `schemas` resolve from site-packages. Without it they are importable only
+# while /opt/dagster/app happens to be on sys.path -- true for the process that
+# loads the code location, not for the process that executes a step, which is
+# where the loader's imports run. That difference is invisible locally, where an
+# editable install puts the repository on the path unconditionally.
+#
+# --no-deps because the pinned, hashed requirements are already installed and
+# this must not resolve anything on top of them.
+set -euo pipefail
+pip install --no-deps .