diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile.benchmark.vlabench b/docker/Dockerfile.benchmark.vlabench
index 4ed4477d1..f12399380 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile.benchmark.vlabench
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile.benchmark.vlabench
@@ -21,12 +21,12 @@
 FROM huggingface/lerobot-gpu:latest
 
 # Install VLABench from GitHub (not on PyPI) and pin MuJoCo/dm-control.
-# Clone without recursive submodules to avoid SSH-only nested submodules
-# (third_party/openpi/third_party/{aloha,libero} use git@github.com URLs).
-RUN git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/OpenMOSS/VLABench.git /tmp/VLABench && \
-    uv pip install --no-cache /tmp/VLABench mujoco==3.2.2 dm-control==1.0.22 && \
-    python -c "from VLABench.utils import download_assets; download_assets()" && \
-    rm -rf /tmp/VLABench
+# Shallow-clone without submodule recursion (nested SSH-only submodules fail in CI).
+# Editable install (-e) because VLABench/utils/ has no __init__.py, so
+# find_packages() omits it from wheels; editable mode uses the source tree directly.
+RUN git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/OpenMOSS/VLABench.git /opt/VLABench && \
+    uv pip install --no-cache -e /opt/VLABench mujoco==3.2.2 dm-control==1.0.22 && \
+    python -c "from VLABench.utils import download_assets; download_assets()"
 
 # Overlay the PR's source code on top of the nightly image.
 COPY --chown=user_lerobot:user_lerobot . .