diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2642281..99d64c0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -46,9 +46,11 @@ RUN curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh \
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-# Copy just the dependency manifests first so the heavy `uv sync` layer
-# caches whenever only application code changes.
-COPY pyproject.toml uv.lock .python-version ./
+# Copy dependency manifests + README early so the heavy `uv sync` layer
+# caches whenever only application code changes. README.md is required
+# because pyproject.toml names it as the package's readme — hatchling
+# validates it exists when resolving the editable install.
+COPY pyproject.toml uv.lock .python-version README.md ./
 
 # Prod + OCR extras, no dev tooling. --frozen means "must match uv.lock";
 # CI catches drift before it reaches the image.