diff --git a/next.config.mjs b/next.config.mjs
index 02a1df3..a53a603 100644
--- a/next.config.mjs
+++ b/next.config.mjs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { withPayload } from "@payloadcms/next/withPayload";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import packageJson from "./package.json" with { type: "json" };
 
 
@@ -8,6 +10,13 @@ const nextConfig = {
   env: {
     version: packageJson.version,
   },
+  // Pin the workspace root to this repo dir so the standalone build emits a
+  // flat .next/standalone/server.js (Next otherwise walks up looking for
+  // lockfiles and can pick a parent directory — here a stray
+  // /home/jason/package-lock.json two levels up would nest the standalone
+  // tree under .next/standalone/WebstormProjects/polaris-task-force/, which
+  // breaks the Dockerfile's `COPY .../standalone ./` + `CMD ["node","server.js"]`).
+  outputFileTracingRoot: path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))),
   webpack: (webpackConfig) => {
     webpackConfig.resolve.extensionAlias = {
       ".cjs": [".cts", ".cjs"],
diff --git a/src/app/(frontend)/layout.tsx b/src/app/(frontend)/layout.tsx
index 74366b6..67c23d0 100644
--- a/src/app/(frontend)/layout.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(frontend)/layout.tsx
@@ -15,6 +15,14 @@ import { GameTickRealtime } from "@/components/frontend/realtime/GameTickRealtim
 import { LandingPage } from "@/components/frontend/LandingPage";
 import { Toaster } from "@/components/ui/sonner";
 
+// Skip static prerendering of this layout (and all pages under (frontend)/).
+// The layout calls `getPayload()` at render time to resolve the current user,
+// which connects to PostgreSQL. With force-dynamic, Next.js skips the
+// build-time prerender pass (which would try to init Payload and hit the DB)
+// and instead server-renders at request time. Without this, `next build`
+// inside a container with no reachable DATABASE_URI fails.
+export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
+
 export const metadata: Metadata = {
   description: "A gamified platform for Polaris Task Force, an Arma 3 unit.",
   title: "Polaris Task Force",
diff --git a/src/app/login/page.tsx b/src/app/login/page.tsx
index 4199098..3d3a018 100644
--- a/src/app/login/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/login/page.tsx
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@ import { getPayload } from "payload";
 import config from "@payload-config";
 import { headers as nextHeaders } from "next/headers";
 import { redirect } from "next/navigation";
-import { ShieldIcon } from "lucide-react";
 import { LoginForm } from "@/components/frontend/auth/LoginForm";
+import AppLogo from "@/components/graphics/AppLogo";
+
+// See (frontend)/layout.tsx for rationale. The login page also calls
+// getPayload() at render time and must not be prerendered during `next build`
+// (no DB is available at build time in a container).
+export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
 
 export default async function LoginPage() {
   const payload = await getPayload({ config });
@@ -15,10 +20,9 @@ export default async function LoginPage() {
   return (
     <div className="min-h-screen flex flex-col items-center justify-center p-5 gap-6 bg-background">
       <div className="flex flex-col items-center gap-3 text-center max-w-md">
-        <div className="size-16 rounded-full border border-primary/40 bg-primary/10 flex items-center justify-center">
-          <ShieldIcon className="size-8 text-primary" />
+        <div className="w-[260px] pb-2 [&_img]:w-full [&_img]:h-auto">
+          <AppLogo />
         </div>
-        <h1 className="text-2xl font-semibold">Polaris Task Force</h1>
         <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
           Log in to access the operations dashboard, intelligence, and
           logistics.