diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts b/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts
index dfb86dbe2..ed1b15500 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts
@@ -249,29 +249,22 @@ export namespace Config {
 
   export async function installDependencies(dir: string) {
     const pkg = path.join(dir, "package.json")
-    const targetVersion = Installation.isLocal() ? "latest" : Installation.VERSION
+    const targetVersion = Installation.isLocal() ? "*" : Installation.VERSION
 
-    if (!(await Bun.file(pkg).exists())) {
-      await Bun.write(pkg, "{}")
+    const json = await Bun.file(pkg)
+      .json()
+      .catch(() => ({}))
+    json.dependencies = {
+      ...json.dependencies,
+      "@opencode-ai/plugin": targetVersion,
     }
+    await Bun.write(pkg, JSON.stringify(json, null, 2))
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 3000))
 
     const gitignore = path.join(dir, ".gitignore")
     const hasGitIgnore = await Bun.file(gitignore).exists()
     if (!hasGitIgnore) await Bun.write(gitignore, ["node_modules", "package.json", "bun.lock", ".gitignore"].join("\n"))
 
-    await BunProc.run(
-      [
-        "add",
-        `@opencode-ai/plugin@${targetVersion}`,
-        "--exact",
-        // TODO: get rid of this case (see: https://github.com/oven-sh/bun/issues/19936)
-        ...(proxied() ? ["--no-cache"] : []),
-      ],
-      {
-        cwd: dir,
-      },
-    ).catch(() => {})
-
     // Install any additional dependencies defined in the package.json
     // This allows local plugins and custom tools to use external packages
     await BunProc.run(