diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 1bf995ea..526457ff 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,16 +1,15 @@
-FROM node:24-bookworm-slim AS webui-builder
-
-WORKDIR /app
-COPY webui/package.json webui/package-lock.json ./webui/
-WORKDIR /app/webui
-RUN npm ci
-COPY webui/ ./
-RUN mkdir -p /app/nanobot/web && npm run build
-
 FROM ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:python3.12-bookworm-slim
 
+# Install Node.js for the WebUI build
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ca-certificates git bubblewrap openssh-client && \
+    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl ca-certificates gnupg git bubblewrap openssh-client && \
+    mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings && \
+    curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource-repo.gpg.key | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg && \
+    echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https://deb.nodesource.com/node_24.x nodistro main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list && \
+    apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends nodejs && \
+    apt-get purge -y gnupg && \
+    apt-get autoremove -y && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -19,13 +18,13 @@ WORKDIR /app
 # hook from hatch_build.py even for this metadata-only install.
 COPY pyproject.toml README.md LICENSE THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md hatch_build.py ./
 RUN mkdir -p nanobot && touch nanobot/__init__.py && \
-    NANOBOT_SKIP_WEBUI_BUILD=1 uv pip install --system --no-cache ".[whatsapp]" && \
+    uv pip install --system --no-cache ".[whatsapp]" && \
     rm -rf nanobot
 
-# Copy the full source and install with the WebUI built in the Node-only stage.
+# Copy the full source and install
 COPY nanobot/ nanobot/
-COPY --from=webui-builder /app/nanobot/web/dist/ nanobot/web/dist/
-RUN NANOBOT_SKIP_WEBUI_BUILD=1 uv pip install --system --no-cache ".[whatsapp]"
+COPY webui/ webui/
+RUN NANOBOT_FORCE_WEBUI_BUILD=1 uv pip install --system --no-cache ".[whatsapp]"
 
 # Create non-root user and config directory
 RUN useradd -m -u 1000 -s /bin/bash nanobot && \