diff --git a/scripts/codex-setup.sh b/scripts/codex-setup.sh
index e1e67c8..4d19207 100755
--- a/scripts/codex-setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/codex-setup.sh
@@ -41,6 +41,17 @@ warn-dirty = false
 build-users-group = nixbld
 EOF
 
+    # The official installer's single-user root path still shells out to
+    # `sudo` to create /nix even though it already knows it's running as
+    # root -- confirmed live against a sudo-less minimal Debian/Proxmox
+    # node, where it fails with "sudo: not found" and prints this exact
+    # mkdir/chown as the manual fix. Pre-create it so that branch of the
+    # installer is skipped entirely.
+    if [ ! -d /nix ]; then
+      mkdir -m 0755 /nix
+      chown root /nix
+    fi
+
     sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) --no-daemon
   else
     sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) --no-daemon
diff --git a/scripts/create-proxmox-resource.sh b/scripts/create-proxmox-resource.sh
index fc8161c..d992cb5 100755
--- a/scripts/create-proxmox-resource.sh
+++ b/scripts/create-proxmox-resource.sh
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ ensure_remote_repo() {
   echo
   echo "==> Ensuring ${remote_repo_dir} exists and is current on ${node}..."
   if [[ "$dry_run" -eq 1 ]]; then
-    echo "[dry-run] would ensure ${remote_repo_dir} exists on ${node} (clone + scripts/codex-setup.sh if missing, git pull if present)"
+    echo "[dry-run] would ensure ${remote_repo_dir} exists on ${node} (clone if missing, git pull if present), and would verify/bootstrap build tooling there (scripts/codex-setup.sh) if \`nix\` isn't already on PATH"
     return
   fi
 
@@ -542,6 +542,22 @@ ensure_remote_repo() {
     fi
     echo "Not present -- cloning from ${origin_url}..."
     ssh "$ssh_target" "git clone '${origin_url}' '${remote_repo_dir}'"
+  fi
+
+  # Checked (and bootstrapped if missing) every run, not just right after a
+  # fresh clone -- confirmed live: a first bootstrap can clone the repo
+  # successfully and still leave the node without a working `nix` (e.g. the
+  # node had no `sudo`, which the Nix installer's root path depends on --
+  # see the fix in scripts/codex-setup.sh), and a later run with the repo
+  # already present would otherwise never retry it. Sources
+  # scripts/lib/nix-bootstrap.sh's ensure_nix_profile the same way the
+  # build commands below do -- a single-user Nix install typically only
+  # gets sourced into login shells, and ssh's non-interactive command
+  # execution is neither, so a freshly-installed `nix` still wouldn't be on
+  # PATH here without it.
+  if ssh "$ssh_target" "cd '${remote_repo_dir}' && . scripts/lib/nix-bootstrap.sh && ensure_nix_profile && command -v nix" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "Build tooling already present on ${node}."
+  else
     echo "==> Bootstrapping build tooling on ${node} (scripts/codex-setup.sh)..."
     ssh "$ssh_target" "cd '${remote_repo_dir}' && bash scripts/codex-setup.sh"
   fi
@@ -625,6 +641,11 @@ repo_dir="$1"; target="$2"; dest_dir="$3"; dest_name="$4"; nix_extra_opts_str="$
 declare -a NIX_OPTS=()
 [[ -n "$nix_extra_opts_str" ]] && eval "NIX_OPTS=(${nix_extra_opts_str})"
 cd "$repo_dir"
+# A single-user Nix install only gets sourced into login shells; this ssh
+# session is neither, so `nix` wouldn't otherwise be on PATH here even
+# right after a successful install.
+. scripts/lib/nix-bootstrap.sh
+ensure_nix_profile
 NIXOS_HOST_KEYS_DIR="$(pwd)/host-keys" nix build --impure \
   --no-use-registries --no-accept-flake-config "${NIX_OPTS[@]}" \
   ".#nixosConfigurations.${target}.config.system.build.tarball" \
@@ -672,6 +693,8 @@ repo_dir="$1"; target="$2"; dest_dir="$3"; dest_name="$4"; nix_extra_opts_str="$
 declare -a NIX_OPTS=()
 [[ -n "$nix_extra_opts_str" ]] && eval "NIX_OPTS=(${nix_extra_opts_str})"
 cd "$repo_dir"
+. scripts/lib/nix-bootstrap.sh
+ensure_nix_profile
 nix build --no-use-registries --no-accept-flake-config "${NIX_OPTS[@]}" \
   ".#nixosConfigurations.${target}.config.system.build.diskoImagesScript" \
   --out-link "result-${target}"