diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 754d121..3923a3b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@
 # leverage the renci python base image
 FROM python:3.9-slim
 
+# Copy in just the requirements first for caching purposes
+COPY requirements.txt requirements.txt
+RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
+
 # create a new non-root user and switch to it
 RUN useradd --create-home -u 1000 nru
 USER nru
@@ -20,10 +24,6 @@ USER nru
 # Create the directory for the code and cd to it
 WORKDIR /repo/apsviz-ui-data
 
-# Copy in just the requirements first for caching purposes
-COPY requirements.txt requirements.txt
-RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
-
 # Copy in the rest of the code
 COPY . .