diff --git a/ensure-apk-packages.sh b/ensure-apk-packages.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7a733a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ensure-apk-packages.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+
+log() {
+    echo "[init] $(date -u '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ') $*"
+}
+
+if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
+    log "no packages supplied; nothing to ensure"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+log "ensuring packages: $*"
+
+missing_packages=""
+for pkg in "$@"; do
+    if ! command -v "$pkg" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if [ -n "$missing_packages" ]; then
+            missing_packages="$missing_packages $pkg"
+        else
+            missing_packages="$pkg"
+        fi
+    fi
+done
+
+if [ -n "$missing_packages" ]; then
+    log "installing $missing_packages"
+    set -- $missing_packages
+    apk add --no-cache "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1
+else
+    log "all requested packages already available"
+fi