diff --git a/tools/drake_visualizer_apple.sh b/tools/drake_visualizer_apple.sh
index c5c47f9187f9..06c933d05b34 100755
--- a/tools/drake_visualizer_apple.sh
+++ b/tools/drake_visualizer_apple.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+set -e
+
+# If we are outside the sandbox, then change to the same relative directory as
+# we would be inside the sandbox.
+if ! [ -d "external/director" ]; then
+    guess_runfiles=$(dirname "$0")/drake_visualizer.runfiles/drake
+    if [ -d "$guess_runfiles/external/director" ]; then
+        cd "$guess_runfiles"
+    else
+        echo "$(basename $0) error: could not find director" 1>&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+
 export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="external/director/lib${DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH}"
 # TODO(jamiesnape): Do not hard code absolute path to vtk@8.0.
 export PYTHONPATH="external/director/lib/python2.7/dist-packages:/usr/local/opt/vtk@8.0/lib/python2.7/site-packages${PYTHONPATH:+:$PYTHONPATH}"