diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index cdde4e35..f244af8c 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -15,7 +15,19 @@
 [Unreleased](https://github.com/bird-house/birdhouse-deploy/tree/master) (latest)
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-[//]: # (list changes here, using '-' for each new entry, remove this when items are added)
+## Fixes
+
+- Jupyterhub: allow users created before Cowbird was enabled to spawn jupyterlab
+
+  Users created before Cowbird was enabled will not have a "workspace directory" created. A workspace directory
+  is a symlink to the directory that contains their Jupyterhub data.
+  
+  When Cowbird is enabled, Jupyterhub checks if the workspace directory exists and raises an error if it doesn't.
+  
+  This change allows Jupyterhub to create the symlink if it doesn't exist instead of raising an error. 
+  This means that users without a "workspace directory" will be able to continue using Jupyterhub as they did 
+  before without the need for manual intervention by a system administrator who would otherwise need to manually
+  create the symlink for them.
 
 [2.6.1](https://github.com/bird-house/birdhouse-deploy/tree/2.6.1) (2024-11-22)
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/birdhouse/components/jupyterhub/jupyterhub_config.py.template b/birdhouse/components/jupyterhub/jupyterhub_config.py.template
index 0fce675b..ff06c988 100644
--- a/birdhouse/components/jupyterhub/jupyterhub_config.py.template
+++ b/birdhouse/components/jupyterhub/jupyterhub_config.py.template
@@ -159,8 +159,7 @@ def create_dir_hook(spawner):
         # to have working volume mounts with the DockerSpawner.
         workspace_user_dir = join(os.environ['WORKSPACE_DIR'], username)
         if not os.path.exists(workspace_user_dir):
-            raise FileNotFoundError(f"The user {username}'s workspace doesn't exist in the workspace directory, "
-                                    "but should have been created by Cowbird already.")
+            os.symlink(jupyterhub_user_dir, workspace_user_dir, target_is_directory=True)
         subprocess.call(["chown", f"{os.environ['USER_WORKSPACE_UID']}:{os.environ['USER_WORKSPACE_GID']}",
                          workspace_user_dir])