diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f73dd635..172aeb53 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM node:latest AS base
+FROM node:lts-bookworm-slim AS base
 
 # Install dependencies only when needed
 FROM base AS deps
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ RUN curl -sSL https://install.python-poetry.org | POETRY_HOME=/opt/poetry python
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-COPY barker/pyproject.toml barker/poetry.lock /app
+COPY barker/pyproject.toml barker/poetry.lock* /app
 
 # Allow installing dev dependencies to run tests
 ARG INSTALL_DEV=false
diff --git a/ansible/playbook.yml b/ansible/playbook.yml
index 6ae30243..dc7f9a44 100755
--- a/ansible/playbook.yml
+++ b/ansible/playbook.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@
   become: true
   vars_files:
     - vars/default.yml
-    - "{{ var_file }}"
+
+  pre_tasks:
+    - name: Load per-host vars file from inventory (var_file)
+      ansible.builtin.include_vars:
+        file: "{{ var_file }}"
+      when: var_file is defined
 
   roles:
     - network