diff --git a/download-dependencies.sh b/download-dependencies.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index fb3c313f..b4fb6425
--- a/download-dependencies.sh
+++ b/download-dependencies.sh
@@ -6,5 +6,11 @@ cd ./dependencies && \
 echo "Downloading dependencies"
 curl -sS https://preview.documentation.bedrock.aws.dev/Documentation/SDK/bedrock-python-sdk.zip > sdk.zip && \
 echo "Unpacking dependencies"
-unzip sdk.zip && \
-rm sdk.zip
\ No newline at end of file
+# (SageMaker Studio system terminals don't have `unzip` utility installed)
+if command -v unzip &> /dev/null
+then
+    unzip sdk.zip && rm sdk.zip
+else
+    echo "'unzip' command not found: Trying to unzip via Python"
+    python -m zipfile -e sdk.zip . && rm sdk.zip
+fi