diff --git a/app/Dockerfile b/app/Dockerfile
index 9d151fc..845bcdd 100644
--- a/app/Dockerfile
+++ b/app/Dockerfile
@@ -26,17 +26,21 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     poppler-utils \
  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+# Create an isolated Python environment to avoid PEP 668 restrictions
+RUN python3 -m venv /opt/venv
+ENV PATH="/opt/venv/bin:${PATH}"
+
 WORKDIR /app
 
 # Upgrade pip toolchain then install Python deps
 COPY requirements.txt .
-RUN python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel \
- && pip3 install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt \
- && pip3 check || true
+RUN python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel \
+ && pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt \
+ && pip check || true
 
 # App code
 COPY app.py worker.py scanner.py ./
-RUN pip3 install --no-cache-dir gunicorn==22.0.0
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir gunicorn==22.0.0
 
 # Healthcheck against the app's /health endpoint