diff --git a/build.go b/build.go
index eb723b22..3a39f797 100644
--- a/build.go
+++ b/build.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	runComposerInstallOnCacheEnv = "BP_RUN_COMPOSER_INSTALL"
+	opensslExtension             = "openssl"
 )
 
 // DetermineComposerInstallOptions defines the interface to get options for `composer install`
@@ -448,7 +449,7 @@ func writeComposerPhpIni(logger scribe.Emitter, context packit.BuildContext) (co
 
 	phpIni := fmt.Sprintf(`[PHP]
 extension_dir = "%s"
-extension = openssl.so`, os.Getenv(PhpExtensionDir))
+extension = %s.so`, os.Getenv(PhpExtensionDir), opensslExtension)
 	logger.Debug.Subprocess("Writing php.ini contents:\n'%s'", phpIni)
 
 	return composerPhpIniPath, os.WriteFile(composerPhpIniPath, []byte(phpIni), os.ModePerm)
@@ -493,7 +494,12 @@ func runCheckPlatformReqs(logger scribe.Emitter, checkPlatformReqsExec Executabl
 		}
 	}
 
-	var extensions []string
+	// we always include the openssl extension as it will not be found
+	// otherwise. The reason for this is that `writeComposerPhpIni` gets
+	// executed first and already includes the openssl extension. `composer
+	// check-platform-reqs` will therefore not output a missing openssl
+	// extension (as it was already loaded).
+	var extensions = []string{opensslExtension}
 	for _, line := range strings.Split(buffer.String(), "\n") {
 		chunks := strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(line), " ")
 		extensionName := strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(chunks[0]), "ext-")
diff --git a/build_test.go b/build_test.go
index 0ae9a609..1930f200 100644
--- a/build_test.go
+++ b/build_test.go
@@ -571,7 +571,8 @@ composer-lock-sha = "sha-from-composer-lock"
 			contents, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(workingDir, ".php.ini.d", "composer-extensions.ini"))
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 
-			Expect(string(contents)).To(Equal(`extension = hello.so
+			Expect(string(contents)).To(Equal(`extension = openssl.so
+extension = hello.so
 extension = bar.so
 `))
 		})
@@ -610,7 +611,7 @@ extension = bar.so
 			Expect(output).To(ContainSubstring(fmt.Sprintf("Listing files in %s:", filepath.Join(layersDir, composer.ComposerPackagesLayerName, "vendor"))))
 			Expect(output).To(ContainSubstring(" Generating SBOM"))
 			Expect(output).To(ContainSubstring("Running 'composer check-platform-reqs'"))
-			Expect(output).To(ContainSubstring("Found extensions 'hello, bar'"))
+			Expect(output).To(ContainSubstring("Found extensions 'openssl, hello, bar'"))
 		})
 	})
 
diff --git a/integration/with_extensions_test.go b/integration/with_extensions_test.go
index 4069eea4..cc744842 100644
--- a/integration/with_extensions_test.go
+++ b/integration/with_extensions_test.go
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func testWithExtensions(t *testing.T, context spec.G, it spec.S) {
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred(), logs.String)
 
 			Expect(logs).To(ContainSubstring("Running 'composer check-platform-reqs'"))
-			Expect(logs).To(ContainSubstring("Found extensions 'fileinfo, gd, mysqli, zip'"))
+			Expect(logs).To(ContainSubstring("Found extensions 'openssl, fileinfo, gd, mysqli, zip'"))
 
 			container, err = docker.Container.Run.
 				WithEnv(map[string]string{"PORT": "8765"}).
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ func testWithExtensions(t *testing.T, context spec.G, it spec.S) {
 			// Note that `mbstring` is not included, since it is not available in `php-dist` for unknown reasons
 			extensionsMatcher := And(
 				ContainSubstring("zip"),
+				ContainSubstring("openssl"),
 				ContainSubstring("gd"),
 				ContainSubstring("fileinfo"),
 				ContainSubstring("mysqli"),