diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index 50ce40e..27041f8 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM python:3.10
+FROM python:3.13
 
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
 
@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
 
 COPY ./backend/scripts /app/backend/scripts
 
-COPY ./backend/pyproject.toml ./backend/alembic.ini /app/backend/
+# README.md and LICENSE come along because pyproject.toml names them in
+# `readme` and `license-files`; hatchling reads both when it builds the
+# package metadata below, and fails the build if either is missing.
+COPY ./backend/pyproject.toml ./backend/alembic.ini ./backend/README.md ./backend/LICENSE /app/backend/
 
 COPY ./backend/fluksio /app/backend/fluksio