diff --git a/helm/superset/templates/_helpers.tpl b/helm/superset/templates/_helpers.tpl
index c093bf5a52..67496aae16 100644
--- a/helm/superset/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/helm/superset/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -49,11 +49,17 @@ Create chart name and version as used by the chart label.
 {{- printf "%s-%s" .Chart.Name .Chart.Version | replace "+" "_" | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" -}}
 {{- end -}}
 
-{{- define "superset-bootstrap" }}
+{{- define "superset-bootstrap" -}}
 #!/bin/sh
-
+{{ if .Values.additionalAptPackages }}
+apt-get update -y \
+  && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+     {{ range .Values.additionalAptPackages }}{{ . }} {{ end }}\
+  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+{{ end -}}
+{{ if .Values.additionalRequirements }}
 pip install {{ range .Values.additionalRequirements }}{{ . }} {{ end }}
-
+{{ end -}}
 {{ end -}}
 
 {{- define "superset-config" }}
diff --git a/helm/superset/values.yaml b/helm/superset/values.yaml
index ab247f2d8a..b0116704eb 100644
--- a/helm/superset/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/superset/values.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ additionalRequirements:
   - "psycopg2==2.8.5"
   - "redis==3.2.1"
 
+## These apt packages are applied on init of superset containers
+additionalAptPackages: {}
+  # - nano
+
 ## The name of the secret which we will use to generate a superset_config.py file
 ## Note: this secret must have the key superset_config.py in it and can include other files as well
 ##