diff --git a/docs/changelog.md b/docs/changelog.md
index 11d60f5c..c6b18438 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/changelog.md
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 ITables ChangeLog
 =================
 
+2.5.0-dev (unreleased)
+------------------
+
+**Fixed**
+- The offline mode now allows the init cell to be rendered after the table cells. It should work more reliably in VS Code ([#424](https://github.com/mwouts/itables/issues/424))
+
+
 2.4.5 (2025-08-23)
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/src/itables/html/datatables_template_offline.html b/src/itables/html/datatables_template_offline.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..77229047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/itables/html/datatables_template_offline.html
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<!--| quarto-html-table-processing: none -->
+<table id="table_id"></table>
+<script type="module">
+    (async () => {
+        async function init() {
+            const { ITable, jQuery: $ } = await window._itables_underscore_version;
+
+            document.querySelectorAll("#table_id:not(.dataTable)").forEach(table => {
+                if (!(table instanceof HTMLTableElement))
+                    return;
+
+                let dt_args = {};
+                new ITable(table, dt_args);
+            });
+        }
+
+        if (window._itables_underscore_version) {
+            init();
+        } else {
+            window.addEventListener("itables-version-ready", () => {
+                init();
+            });
+        }
+    })();
+</script>
diff --git a/src/itables/html/init_notebook_offline.html b/src/itables/html/init_notebook_offline.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bc5024d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/itables/html/init_notebook_offline.html
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<script>
+function injectCSS(base64CSS) {
+    const cssText = atob(base64CSS);
+    const style = document.createElement('style');
+    style.textContent = cssText;
+    document.head.appendChild(style);
+}
+
+async function injectModule(base64JS) {
+    const jsText = atob(base64JS);
+    const blob = new Blob([jsText], { type: 'application/javascript' });
+    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+    const module = await import(url);
+    URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
+    return module;
+}
+
+if (!window._itables_underscore_version) {
+    injectCSS("dt_css_b64");
+    window._itables_underscore_version = injectModule("dt_src_b64");
+    window._itables_underscore_version.then(() => {
+        window.dispatchEvent(new Event("itables-version-ready"));
+    });
+}
+</script>
diff --git a/src/itables/javascript.py b/src/itables/javascript.py
index c98008af..6679929b 100644
--- a/src/itables/javascript.py
+++ b/src/itables/javascript.py
@@ -50,9 +50,10 @@
 from .downsample import downsample
 from .utils import read_package_file
 
-DATATABLES_SRC_FOR_ITABLES = (
-    f"_datatables_src_for_itables_{itables_version.replace('.','_').replace('-','_')}"
+_ITABLES_UNDERSCORE_VERSION = (
+    f"_itables_{itables_version.replace('.','_').replace('-','_')}"
 )
+_ITABLES_READY_EVENT = f"itables-{itables_version}-ready"
 _OPTIONS_NOT_AVAILABLE_IN_APP_MODE = {
     "connected",
     "dt_url",
@@ -179,7 +180,7 @@ def init_notebook_mode(
         )
         local_import = (
             "const { set_or_remove_dark_class } = await import(window."
-            + DATATABLES_SRC_FOR_ITABLES
+            + _ITABLES_UNDERSCORE_VERSION
             + ");"
         )
         init_datatables = replace_value(init_datatables, connected_import, local_import)
@@ -201,13 +202,26 @@ def generate_init_offline_itables_html(dt_bundle: Union[Path, str]) -> str:
     assert dt_bundle.suffix == ".js"
     dt_src = dt_bundle.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     dt_css = dt_bundle.with_suffix(".css").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-    dt64 = b64encode(dt_src.encode("utf-8")).decode("ascii")
+    dt_src_b64 = b64encode(dt_src.encode("utf-8")).decode("ascii")
+    dt_css_b64 = b64encode(dt_css.encode("utf-8")).decode("ascii")
+
+    init_notebook_mode = read_package_file("html/init_notebook_offline.html")
+    init_notebook_mode = replace_value(
+        init_notebook_mode,
+        "_itables_underscore_version",
+        _ITABLES_UNDERSCORE_VERSION,
+        expected_count=3,
+    )
+    init_notebook_mode = replace_value(
+        init_notebook_mode, "itables-version-ready", _ITABLES_READY_EVENT
+    )
+    init_notebook_mode = replace_value(init_notebook_mode, "dt_src_b64", dt_src_b64)
+    init_notebook_mode = replace_value(init_notebook_mode, "dt_css_b64", dt_css_b64)
 
-    return f"""<style>{dt_css}</style>
+    return (
+        init_notebook_mode
+        + f"""
 <div style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:left">
-<script>
-window.{DATATABLES_SRC_FOR_ITABLES} = "data:text/javascript;base64,{dt64}";
-</script>
 <noscript>
 {get_animated_logo(opt.display_logo_when_loading)}
 This is the <code>init_notebook_mode</code> cell from ITables v{itables_version}<br>
@@ -215,6 +229,7 @@ def generate_init_offline_itables_html(dt_bundle: Union[Path, str]) -> str:
 </noscript>
 </div>
 """
+    )
 
 
 def _table_header(
@@ -297,17 +312,15 @@ def get_keys_to_be_evaluated(data: Any) -> list[list[Union[int, str]]]:
     return keys_to_be_evaluated
 
 
-def replace_value(template: str, pattern: str, value: str) -> str:
+def replace_value(
+    template: str, pattern: str, value: str, expected_count: int = 1
+) -> str:
     """Set the given pattern to the desired value in the template,
     after making sure that the pattern is found exactly once."""
     count = template.count(pattern)
-    if not count:
-        raise ValueError("pattern={} was not found in template".format(pattern))
-    elif count > 1:
+    if count != expected_count:
         raise ValueError(
-            "pattern={} was found multiple times ({}) in template".format(
-                pattern, count
-            )
+            f"{pattern=} was found {count} times in template, expected {expected_count}."
         )
     return template.replace(pattern, value)
 
@@ -702,8 +715,8 @@ def html_table_from_template(
         )
 
     # Load the HTML template
-    output = read_package_file("html/datatables_template.html")
     if connected:
+        output = read_package_file("html/datatables_template.html")
         assert dt_url.endswith(".js")
         output = replace_value(output, UNPKG_DT_BUNDLE_URL_NO_VERSION, dt_url)
         output = replace_value(
@@ -712,21 +725,14 @@ def html_table_from_template(
             dt_url[:-3] + ".css",
         )
     else:
-        connected_style = (
-            f'<link href="{UNPKG_DT_BUNDLE_CSS_NO_VERSION}" rel="stylesheet">\n'
-        )
-        output = replace_value(output, connected_style, "")
-        connected_import = (
-            "import { ITable, jQuery as $ } from '"
-            + UNPKG_DT_BUNDLE_URL_NO_VERSION
-            + "';"
-        )
-        local_import = (
-            "const { ITable, jQuery: $ } = await import(window."
-            + DATATABLES_SRC_FOR_ITABLES
-            + ");"
+        output = read_package_file("html/datatables_template_offline.html")
+        output = replace_value(
+            output,
+            "_itables_underscore_version",
+            _ITABLES_UNDERSCORE_VERSION,
+            expected_count=2,
         )
-        output = replace_value(output, connected_import, local_import)
+        output = replace_value(output, "itables-version-ready", _ITABLES_READY_EVENT)
 
     itables_source = (
         "the internet" if connected else "the <code>init_notebook_mode</code> cell"
diff --git a/src/itables/version.py b/src/itables/version.py
index 5689dd5c..bc0001e7 100644
--- a/src/itables/version.py
+++ b/src/itables/version.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 """ITables' version number"""
 
-__version__ = "2.4.5"
+__version__ = "2.5.0-dev"
diff --git a/tests/test_connected_notebook_is_small.py b/tests/test_connected_notebook_is_small.py
index bfab24a2..993ddad9 100644
--- a/tests/test_connected_notebook_is_small.py
+++ b/tests/test_connected_notebook_is_small.py
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ def test_offline_notebook_is_not_too_large(tmp_path):
     nb_py.write_text(text_notebook(connected=False))
     jupytext([str(nb_py), "--to", "ipynb", "--set-kernel", "itables", "--execute"])
     assert nb_ipynb.exists()
-    assert 750000 < nb_ipynb.stat().st_size < 850000
+    assert 825000 < nb_ipynb.stat().st_size < 875000
diff --git a/tests/test_javascript.py b/tests/test_javascript.py
index f0e587de..88bcbd1e 100644
--- a/tests/test_javascript.py
+++ b/tests/test_javascript.py
@@ -73,14 +73,23 @@ def test_replace_value(
 def test_replace_value_not_found(
     template="line1\nline2\nline3\n", pattern="line4", value="new line4"
 ):
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="not found"):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="was found 0 times in template"):
         assert replace_value(template, pattern, value)
 
 
+def test_replace_value_multiple_expected(
+    template="line1\nline2\nline2\n", pattern="line2", value="new line2"
+):
+    assert (
+        replace_value(template, pattern, value, expected_count=2)
+        == "line1\nnew line2\nnew line2\n"
+    )
+
+
 def test_replace_value_multiple(
     template="line1\nline2\nline2\n", pattern="line2", value="new line2"
 ):
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="found multiple times"):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="was found 2 times in template, expected 1."):
         assert replace_value(template, pattern, value)