diff --git a/internal/codespaces/api/api.go b/internal/codespaces/api/api.go
index 8de16bbb8..ed86a2c6c 100644
--- a/internal/codespaces/api/api.go
+++ b/internal/codespaces/api/api.go
@@ -481,6 +481,7 @@ type CreateCodespaceParams struct {
 	Branch             string
 	Machine            string
 	Location           string
+	DevContainerPath   string
 }
 
 // CreateCodespace creates a codespace with the given parameters and returns a non-nil error if it
@@ -526,6 +527,7 @@ type startCreateRequest struct {
 	Ref                string `json:"ref"`
 	Location           string `json:"location"`
 	Machine            string `json:"machine"`
+	DevContainerPath   string `json:"devcontainer_path,omitempty"`
 }
 
 var errProvisioningInProgress = errors.New("provisioning in progress")
@@ -545,6 +547,7 @@ func (a *API) startCreate(ctx context.Context, params *CreateCodespaceParams) (*
 		Ref:                params.Branch,
 		Location:           params.Location,
 		Machine:            params.Machine,
+		DevContainerPath:   params.DevContainerPath,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error marshaling request: %w", err)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/codespace/create.go b/pkg/cmd/codespace/create.go
index ee9d81fe7..8f884f8da 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/codespace/create.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/codespace/create.go
@@ -13,11 +13,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 type createOptions struct {
-	repo        string
-	branch      string
-	machine     string
-	showStatus  bool
-	idleTimeout time.Duration
+	repo             string
+	branch           string
+	machine          string
+	showStatus       bool
+	idleTimeout      time.Duration
+	devContainerPath string
 }
 
 func newCreateCmd(app *App) *cobra.Command {
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ func newCreateCmd(app *App) *cobra.Command {
 	createCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.machine, "machine", "m", "", "hardware specifications for the VM")
 	createCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&opts.showStatus, "status", "s", false, "show status of post-create command and dotfiles")
 	createCmd.Flags().DurationVar(&opts.idleTimeout, "idle-timeout", 0, "allowed inactivity before codespace is stopped, e.g. \"10m\", \"1h\"")
+	createCmd.Flags().StringVar(&opts.devContainerPath, "devcontainer-path", "", "path to the devcontainer.json file to use when creating codespace")
 
 	return createCmd
 }
@@ -109,6 +111,7 @@ func (a *App) Create(ctx context.Context, opts createOptions) error {
 		Machine:            machine,
 		Location:           locationResult.Location,
 		IdleTimeoutMinutes: int(opts.idleTimeout.Minutes()),
+		DevContainerPath:   opts.devContainerPath,
 	})
 	a.StopProgressIndicator()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/codespace/create_test.go b/pkg/cmd/codespace/create_test.go
index 4b266ffaa..c5c1ea075 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/codespace/create_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/codespace/create_test.go
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ func TestApp_Create(t *testing.T) {
 						if params.IdleTimeoutMinutes != 30 {
 							return nil, fmt.Errorf("idle timeout minutes was %v", params.IdleTimeoutMinutes)
 						}
+						if params.DevContainerPath != ".devcontainer/foobar/devcontainer.json" {
+							return nil, fmt.Errorf("got dev container path %q, want %q", params.DevContainerPath, ".devcontainer/foobar/devcontainer.json")
+						}
 						return &api.Codespace{
 							Name: "monalisa-dotfiles-abcd1234",
 						}, nil
@@ -58,11 +61,12 @@ func TestApp_Create(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 			opts: createOptions{
-				repo:        "monalisa/dotfiles",
-				branch:      "",
-				machine:     "GIGA",
-				showStatus:  false,
-				idleTimeout: 30 * time.Minute,
+				repo:             "monalisa/dotfiles",
+				branch:           "",
+				machine:          "GIGA",
+				showStatus:       false,
+				idleTimeout:      30 * time.Minute,
+				devContainerPath: ".devcontainer/foobar/devcontainer.json",
 			},
 			wantStdout: "monalisa-dotfiles-abcd1234\n",
 		},