diff --git a/components/ide/code/codehelper/main.go b/components/ide/code/codehelper/main.go
index 51b55c1727a768..e85db584ac9455 100644
--- a/components/ide/code/codehelper/main.go
+++ b/components/ide/code/codehelper/main.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"io"
@@ -36,7 +37,10 @@ var (
 	Version = ""
 )
 
-const Code = "/ide/bin/gitpod-code"
+const (
+	Code                = "/ide/bin/gitpod-code"
+	ProductJsonLocation = "/ide/product.json"
+)
 
 func main() {
 	enableDebug := os.Getenv("SUPERVISOR_DEBUG_ENABLE") == "true"
@@ -45,6 +49,10 @@ func main() {
 	log.Info("codehelper started")
 	startTime := time.Now()
 
+	if err := replaceOpenVSXUrl(); err != nil {
+		log.WithError(err).Error("failed to replace OpenVSX URL")
+	}
+
 	phaseDone := phaseLogging("ResolveWsInfo")
 	wsInfo, err := resolveWorkspaceInfo(context.Background())
 	if err != nil || wsInfo == nil {
@@ -258,3 +266,22 @@ func phaseLogging(phase string) context.CancelFunc {
 	}()
 	return cancel
 }
+
+func replaceOpenVSXUrl() error {
+	phase := phaseLogging("ReplaceOpenVSXUrl")
+	defer phase()
+	b, err := os.ReadFile(ProductJsonLocation)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.New("failed to read product.json: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	registryUrl := os.Getenv("VSX_REGISTRY_URL")
+	if registryUrl != "" {
+		b = bytes.ReplaceAll(b, []byte("https://open-vsx.org"), []byte(registryUrl))
+	}
+	b = bytes.ReplaceAll(b, []byte("{{extensionsGalleryItemUrl}}"), []byte("https://open-vsx.org/vscode/item"))
+	b = bytes.ReplaceAll(b, []byte("{{trustedDomain}}"), []byte("https://open-vsx.org"))
+	if err := os.WriteFile(ProductJsonLocation, b, 0644); err != nil {
+		return errors.New("failed to write product.json: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/components/ide/code/startup.sh b/components/ide/code/startup.sh
index 913c96d14fbf35..4de39812c71bb6 100755
--- a/components/ide/code/startup.sh
+++ b/components/ide/code/startup.sh
@@ -32,9 +32,5 @@ export USER=gitpod
 # shellcheck disable=SC1090,SC1091
 [ -s ~/.nvm/nvm-lazy.sh ] && source /home/gitpod/.nvm/nvm-lazy.sh
 
-# Replace OpenVSX URL
-grep -rl open-vsx.org /ide | xargs sed -i "s|https://open-vsx.org|$VSX_REGISTRY_URL|g"
-grep -rl "{{extensionsGalleryItemUrl}}\|{{trustedDomain}}" /ide | xargs sed -i "s|{{extensionsGalleryItemUrl}}|https://open-vsx.org/vscode/item|g;s|{{trustedDomain}}|https://open-vsx.org|g"
-
 cd /ide || exit
 exec /ide/codehelper "$@"