diff --git a/docs/tutorial/code/node-app/task.yaml b/docs/tutorial/code/node-app/task.yaml
index 58da9cfa6..7ce2b4b99 100644
--- a/docs/tutorial/code/node-app/task.yaml
+++ b/docs/tutorial/code/node-app/task.yaml
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ execute: |
   # Wait for a bit for the app to come online
   retry -n 5 --wait 2 curl localhost:8000
 
+  # [docs:curl-localhost]
+  curl http://localhost:8000
+  # [docs:curl-localhost-end]
+
   curl localhost:8000 | MATCH "Hello World from inside the rock"
 
   # [docs:stop-container]
diff --git a/docs/tutorial/node-app.rst b/docs/tutorial/node-app.rst
index 83c4131ab..fb1e78306 100644
--- a/docs/tutorial/node-app.rst
+++ b/docs/tutorial/node-app.rst
@@ -116,9 +116,22 @@ service:
     2023-10-30T12:37:33.663Z [pebble] Service "app" starting: node server.js
     2023-10-30T12:37:33.864Z [app] Running on http://0.0.0.0:8080
 
-Next, open your web browser and navigate to ``http://localhost:8000``. You
-should see a blank page with a "Hello World from inside the rock!" message.
-Success!
+Next we'll verify that the Node.js app is up and running. If you're working on
+a regular Ubuntu system, open your web browser and go to
+``http://localhost:8000``. You should see a blank page with a
+"Hello World from inside the rock!" message. Success!
+
+If, instead, you're working in a Multipass VM, you can
+open another shell into the VM and access the app with curl:
+
+.. literalinclude:: code/node-app/task.yaml
+    :language: bash
+    :prepend: multipass shell rock-dev
+    :start-after: [docs:curl-localhost]
+    :end-before: [docs:curl-localhost-end]
+    :dedent: 2
+
+This should also print "Hello World from inside the rock!" to the terminal.
 
 You can now stop the running container by either interrupting it with CTRL+C or
 by running the following in another terminal: