diff --git a/src/nixos_anywhere_pxe/__init__.py b/src/nixos_anywhere_pxe/__init__.py
index cb7912ce..e9ff8b40 100644
--- a/src/nixos_anywhere_pxe/__init__.py
+++ b/src/nixos_anywhere_pxe/__init__.py
@@ -19,8 +19,13 @@
 
 FILE = Union[None, int, IO]
 
-NIXOS_ANYWHERE_SH = Path(__file__).parent.absolute() / "src/nixos-anywhere.sh"
-
+# use nixos-anywhere if available, else use unpackaged shell script for development
+NIXOS_ANYWHERE_SH = shutil.which("nixos-anywhere")
+if NIXOS_ANYWHERE_SH is not None:
+    # i prefer not having huge nix-store paths in the logs
+    NIXOS_ANYWHERE_SH = "nixos-anywhere"
+else:
+    NIXOS_ANYWHERE_SH = Path(__file__).parent.absolute() / "src/nixos-anywhere.sh"
 
 def run(
     cmd: Union[str, list[str]],