diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 6a508e7b..2d06c086 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -70,6 +70,6 @@ RUN curl -fsSL -o /opt/llvm.sh https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh \
   && /opt/llvm.sh "$LLVM_VERSION"
 
 # Install R
-COPY ./build-gnur.sh /workspace/tools/build-gnur.sh
-RUN mkdir -p /workspace/external
-RUN cd /workspace/external ; bash ../tools/build-gnur.sh
\ No newline at end of file
+COPY ./build-gnur-in-docker.sh /workspace/tools/build-gnur-in-docker.sh
+RUN mkdir -p /workspace/external/R
+RUN cd /workspace/external ; bash ../tools/build-gnur-in-docker.sh R
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/build-gnur.sh b/.devcontainer/build-gnur-in-docker.sh
similarity index 90%
rename from .devcontainer/build-gnur.sh
rename to .devcontainer/build-gnur-in-docker.sh
index f46864ee..36838db8 100755
--- a/.devcontainer/build-gnur.sh
+++ b/.devcontainer/build-gnur-in-docker.sh
@@ -55,8 +55,11 @@ else
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -f ${R_DIR}/.git ]]; then
-  echo "-> update submodules"
-  git submodule update --init
+  # We don't use the submodule here because that version 
+  # of the  script is used when building the Docker image
+  echo "-> fetch modified R sources"
+  git clone https://github.com/PRL-PRG/r-compiler-server-gnur
+  mv r-compiler-server-gnur "$R_DIR"
 fi
 
 function build {
@@ -67,6 +70,7 @@ function build {
     sleep 1
   fi
 
+
   tools/rsync-recommended
 
   if [[ ! -f Makefile ]]; then