Wayne Rooney's sublime late free-kick punished Teemu Pukki's penalty miss as Derby picked up their first points of the Championship season with a smash and grab win at Carrow Road.
Rooney curled a fine set-piece beyond Tim Krul from just over 20 yards three minutes from time after Derby had soaked up Norwich pressure for much of the game.
Pukki had the chance to put Norwich ahead early in the second half after George Evans handled Onel Hernandez's shot, but the Finland forward slipped as he took the penalty which clipped the bar.
Norwich could still have salvaged a point but ex-Canaries keeper David Marshall produced a superb save to thwart Jordan Hugill's close-range header.