diff --git a/internal/modifier/cdi.go b/internal/modifier/cdi.go
index d7188f9b..76e8dab7 100644
--- a/internal/modifier/cdi.go
+++ b/internal/modifier/cdi.go
@@ -20,12 +20,15 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
+	"tags.cncf.io/container-device-interface/pkg/parser"
+
 	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/internal/config"
 	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/internal/config/image"
 	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/internal/logger"
 	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/internal/modifier/cdi"
 	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/internal/oci"
-	"tags.cncf.io/container-device-interface/pkg/parser"
+	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/pkg/nvcdi"
+	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/pkg/nvcdi/spec"
 )
 
 // NewCDIModifier creates an OCI spec modifier that determines the modifications to make based on the
@@ -42,6 +45,14 @@ func NewCDIModifier(logger logger.Interface, cfg *config.Config, ociSpec oci.Spe
 	}
 	logger.Debugf("Creating CDI modifier for devices: %v", devices)
 
+	automaticDevices := filterAutomaticDevices(devices)
+	if len(automaticDevices) != len(devices) && len(automaticDevices) > 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("requesting a CDI device with vendor 'runtime.nvidia.com' is not supported when requesting other CDI devices")
+	}
+	if len(automaticDevices) > 0 {
+		return newAutomaticCDISpecModifier(logger, cfg, automaticDevices)
+	}
+
 	return cdi.New(
 		cdi.WithLogger(logger),
 		cdi.WithDevices(devices...),
@@ -133,3 +144,52 @@ func getAnnotationDevices(prefixes []string, annotations map[string]string) ([]s
 
 	return annotationDevices, nil
 }
+
+// filterAutomaticDevices searches for "automatic" device names in the input slice.
+// "Automatic" devices are a well-defined list of CDI device names which, when requested,
+// trigger the generation of a CDI spec at runtime. This removes the need to generate a
+// CDI spec on the system a-priori as well as keep it up-to-date.
+func filterAutomaticDevices(devices []string) []string {
+	var automatic []string
+	for _, device := range devices {
+		if device == "runtime.nvidia.com/gpu=all" {
+			automatic = append(automatic, device)
+		}
+	}
+	return automatic
+}
+
+func newAutomaticCDISpecModifier(logger logger.Interface, cfg *config.Config, devices []string) (oci.SpecModifier, error) {
+	logger.Debugf("Generating in-memory CDI specs for devices %v", devices)
+	spec, err := generateAutomaticCDISpec(logger, cfg, devices)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to generate CDI spec: %w", err)
+	}
+	cdiModifier, err := cdi.New(
+		cdi.WithLogger(logger),
+		cdi.WithSpec(spec.Raw()),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to construct CDI modifier: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return cdiModifier, nil
+}
+
+// TODO: use the requested devices when generating the CDI spec once we add
+// automatic CDI generation for more than just the 'runtime.nvidia.com/gpu=all'
+// device
+func generateAutomaticCDISpec(logger logger.Interface, cfg *config.Config, devices []string) (spec.Interface, error) {
+	cdilib, err := nvcdi.New(
+		nvcdi.WithLogger(logger),
+		nvcdi.WithNVIDIACTKPath(cfg.NVIDIACTKConfig.Path),
+		nvcdi.WithDriverRoot(cfg.NVIDIAContainerCLIConfig.Root),
+		nvcdi.WithVendor("runtime.nvidia.com"),
+		nvcdi.WithClass("gpu"),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to construct CDI library: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return cdilib.GetSpec()
+}