diff --git a/deploy/Dockerfile.backend b/deploy/Dockerfile.backend
index 25fb71b..837ae91 100644
--- a/deploy/Dockerfile.backend
+++ b/deploy/Dockerfile.backend
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY backend/package*.json ./
-RUN npm ci --production
+# Use npm ci if a lockfile exists, otherwise fall back to npm install
+RUN sh -c 'if [ -f package-lock.json ] || [ -f npm-shrinkwrap.json ]; then npm ci --production; else npm install --production; fi'
 COPY backend/ ./
 RUN npm run build --prefix backend
 
diff --git a/deploy/Dockerfile.frontend b/deploy/Dockerfile.frontend
index 2b83693..6cd090c 100644
--- a/deploy/Dockerfile.frontend
+++ b/deploy/Dockerfile.frontend
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY frontend/package*.json ./
-RUN npm ci
+# Use npm ci when lockfile exists, fallback to npm install
+RUN sh -c 'if [ -f package-lock.json ] || [ -f npm-shrinkwrap.json ]; then npm ci; else npm install; fi'
 COPY frontend/ ./
 RUN npm run build --prefix frontend