diff --git a/scripts/codex_package/archive.py b/scripts/codex_package/archive.py
index fe09c0a4f746..08944a650f0e 100644
--- a/scripts/codex_package/archive.py
+++ b/scripts/codex_package/archive.py
@@ -5,8 +5,14 @@
 import tarfile
 import tempfile
 import zipfile
+from collections.abc import Callable
 from pathlib import Path
 
+from .targets import REPO_ROOT
+
+
+ZSTD_DOTSLASH = REPO_ROOT / ".github" / "workflows" / "zstd"
+
 
 def write_archive(package_dir: Path, archive_path: Path, *, force: bool) -> None:
     if is_relative_to(archive_path, package_dir):
@@ -63,14 +69,33 @@ def write_tar_archive(package_dir: Path, archive_path: Path, *, mode: str) -> No
 
 
 def write_tar_zst_archive(package_dir: Path, archive_path: Path) -> None:
-    zstd = shutil.which("zstd")
-    if zstd is None:
-        raise RuntimeError("zstd is required to write .tar.zst archives.")
+    zstd_command = resolve_zstd_command()
 
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="codex-package-archive-") as temp_dir_str:
         tar_path = Path(temp_dir_str) / "package.tar"
         write_tar_archive(package_dir, tar_path, mode="w")
-        subprocess.check_call([zstd, "-T0", "-19", "-f", str(tar_path), "-o", str(archive_path)])
+        subprocess.check_call(
+            [*zstd_command, "-T0", "-19", "-f", str(tar_path), "-o", str(archive_path)]
+        )
+
+
+def resolve_zstd_command(
+    *,
+    dotslash_manifest: Path = ZSTD_DOTSLASH,
+    which: Callable[[str], str | None] = shutil.which,
+) -> list[str]:
+    zstd = which("zstd")
+    if zstd is not None:
+        return [zstd]
+
+    dotslash = which("dotslash")
+    if dotslash is not None and dotslash_manifest.is_file():
+        return [dotslash, str(dotslash_manifest)]
+
+    raise RuntimeError(
+        "zstd is required to write .tar.zst archives. Install zstd, or install "
+        f"DotSlash so the repository wrapper can run: {dotslash_manifest}"
+    )
 
 
 def write_zip_archive(package_dir: Path, archive_path: Path) -> None:
diff --git a/scripts/codex_package/test_archive.py b/scripts/codex_package/test_archive.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cade7d12f676
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/codex_package/test_archive.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]))
+
+from codex_package.archive import resolve_zstd_command
+
+
+class ResolveZstdCommandTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_prefers_zstd_from_path(self) -> None:
+        def which(name: str) -> str | None:
+            return {"zstd": "/usr/bin/zstd", "dotslash": "/usr/bin/dotslash"}.get(name)
+
+        self.assertEqual(resolve_zstd_command(which=which), ["/usr/bin/zstd"])
+
+    def test_falls_back_to_dotslash_manifest(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temp_dir:
+            manifest = Path(temp_dir) / "zstd"
+            manifest.write_text("#!/usr/bin/env dotslash\n{}\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+            def which(name: str) -> str | None:
+                return {"dotslash": "/usr/bin/dotslash"}.get(name)
+
+            self.assertEqual(
+                resolve_zstd_command(dotslash_manifest=manifest, which=which),
+                ["/usr/bin/dotslash", str(manifest)],
+            )
+
+    def test_errors_when_no_zstd_or_dotslash_manifest_is_available(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temp_dir:
+            missing_manifest = Path(temp_dir) / "zstd"
+
+            with self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, "zstd is required"):
+                resolve_zstd_command(
+                    dotslash_manifest=missing_manifest,
+                    which=lambda _name: None,
+                )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()