diff --git a/.github/workflows/container-smoke-test.yml b/.github/workflows/container-smoke-test.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c0dcf877a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/container-smoke-test.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+name: Smoke test Docker image
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+    branches: [ main ]
+
+jobs:
+  smoke-test-container:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      BUILDKIT_PROGRESS: plain
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - name: Build and start services
+        run: docker compose --file=container/compose.yml up --build --wait --detach
+
+      - name: Smoke test registry
+        run: |
+          response=$(
+            curl --silent --verbose --fail --request POST \
+              --header 'Content-Type: application/vnd.schemaregistry.v1+json' \
+              --data '{"schema": "{\"type\": \"record\", \"name\": \"Obj\", \"fields\":[{\"name\": \"age\", \"type\": \"int\"}]}"}' \
+              http://localhost:8081/subjects/test-key/versions
+          )
+          echo "$response"
+          [[ $response == '{"id":1}' ]] || exit 1
+          echo "Ok!"
+
+      - name: Smoke test REST proxy
+        run: |
+          response=$(curl --silent --verbose --fail http://localhost:8082/topics)
+          echo "$response"
+          [[ $response == '["_schemas","__consumer_offsets"]' ]] || exit 1
+          echo "Ok!"
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index d8f211fb7..7d0230b41 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ To use your development code, you need to set up a Kafka server and run Karapace
 virtual environment:
 
 ```
-docker-compose -f ./container/docker-compose.yml up -d kafka
+docker compose -f ./container/compose.yml up -d kafka
 karapace karapace.config.json
 ```
 
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index e1e4ca9aa..ae0c706c5 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -59,9 +59,9 @@ To get you up and running with the latest build of Karapace, a docker image is a
   # Fetch the latest release
   docker pull ghcr.io/aiven/karapace:latest
 
-An example setup including configuration and Kafka connection is available as docker-compose example::
+An example setup including configuration and Kafka connection is available as compose example::
 
-    docker-compose -f ./container/docker-compose.yml up -d
+    docker compose -f ./container/compose.yml up -d
 
 Then you should be able to reach two sets of endpoints:
 
diff --git a/container/Dockerfile b/container/Dockerfile
index 0120dca8e..10b7702fb 100644
--- a/container/Dockerfile
+++ b/container/Dockerfile
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ RUN pip3 install --no-deps /build/karapace-wheel/*.whl && rm -rf /build/karapace
 COPY ./container/start.sh /opt/karapace
 RUN chmod 500 /opt/karapace/start.sh && chown karapace:karapace /opt/karapace/start.sh
 
+COPY ./container/healthcheck.py /opt/karapace
+
 WORKDIR /opt/karapace
 USER karapace
 
@@ -74,3 +76,6 @@ ARG COMMIT
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.created=$CREATED \
       org.opencontainers.image.version=$VERSION \
       org.opencontainers.image.revision=$COMMIT
+
+HEALTHCHECK --interval=10s --timeout=30s --retries=3 --start-period=60s \
+    CMD python3 healthcheck.py http://localhost:$KARAPACE_PORT/_health || exit 1
diff --git a/container/docker-compose.yml b/container/compose.yml
similarity index 95%
rename from container/docker-compose.yml
rename to container/compose.yml
index 1df42af08..852d87ea8 100644
--- a/container/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/container/compose.yml
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ services:
 
   karapace-registry:
     image: ghcr.io/aiven/karapace:develop
+    build:
+      context: ..
+      dockerfile: container/Dockerfile
     entrypoint:
       - /bin/bash
       - /opt/karapace/start.sh
@@ -78,6 +81,9 @@ services:
 
   karapace-rest:
     image: ghcr.io/aiven/karapace:develop
+    build:
+      context: ..
+      dockerfile: container/Dockerfile
     entrypoint:
       - /bin/bash
       - /opt/karapace/start.sh
diff --git a/container/healthcheck.py b/container/healthcheck.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d08fb29d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/container/healthcheck.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+"""
+Copyright (c) 2023 Aiven Ltd
+See LICENSE for details
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from http import HTTPStatus
+from typing import Final
+
+import aiohttp
+import asyncio
+import sys
+
+timeout: Final = aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=2)
+
+
+async def check_ok(url: str) -> bool:
+    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
+        response = await session.get(url)
+        if response.status != HTTPStatus.OK:
+            print(
+                f"Server responded with non-OK {response.status=} {url=}",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
+            raise SystemExit(1)
+        print("Ok!", file=sys.stderr)
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    url = sys.argv[1]
+    print(f"Checking {url=}", file=sys.stderr)
+    asyncio.run(check_ok(url))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/performance-test/README.rst b/performance-test/README.rst
index a5d981da5..f3da26c6e 100644
--- a/performance-test/README.rst
+++ b/performance-test/README.rst
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Install development requirements per instructions from `README.rst <../README.rs
 
 Requires Kafka and Zookeeper running in the containers::
   cd ../container
-  docker-compose start zookeeper kafka
+  docker compose start zookeeper kafka
 
 Create if necessary the `_schemas` topic to Kafka::
   docker exec -it <KAFKA_POD_ID> bash
diff --git a/tests/integration/utils/kafka_server.py b/tests/integration/utils/kafka_server.py
index f0d043af7..8b114e023 100644
--- a/tests/integration/utils/kafka_server.py
+++ b/tests/integration/utils/kafka_server.py
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ def configure_and_start_kafka(
         ]
     )
 
-    # Keep in sync with containers/docker-compose.yml
+    # Keep in sync with containers/compose.yml
     kafka_ini = {
         "broker.id": 1,
         "broker.rack": "local",
diff --git a/website/source/install.rst b/website/source/install.rst
index 69fd9b941..bc0102318 100644
--- a/website/source/install.rst
+++ b/website/source/install.rst
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ To get you up and running with the latest build of Karapace, a docker image is a
   # Fetch the latest release
   docker pull ghcr.io/aiven/karapace:latest
 
-An example setup including configuration and Kafka connection is available as docker-compose example::
+An example setup including configuration and Kafka connection is available as compose example::
 
-    docker-compose -f ./container/docker-compose.yml up -d
+    docker compose -f ./container/compose.yml up -d
 
 Then you should be able to reach two sets of endpoints: