diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7012c325
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# Don't include the .git in the image. It's big!
+.git
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 5335330f..ed2b65e4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,16 +1,21 @@
 FROM ghcr.io/jorgensd/dolfinx-tutorial:v0.6.0
 
 # create user with a home directory
-ARG NB_USER
+ARG NB_USER=jovyan
 ARG NB_UID=1000
-ENV USER ${NB_USER}
+RUN useradd -m ${NB_USER} -u ${NB_UID}
 ENV HOME /home/${NB_USER}
 
+# for binder: base image upgrades lab to require jupyter-server 2,
+# but binder explicitly launches jupyter-notebook
+# force binder to launch jupyter-server instead
+RUN nb=$(which jupyter-notebook) \
+ && rm $nb \
+ && ln -s $(which jupyter-lab) $nb
+
 # Copy home directory for usage in binder
 WORKDIR ${HOME}
-COPY . ${HOME}
-USER root
-RUN chown -R ${NB_UID} ${HOME}
+COPY --chown=${NB_UID} . ${HOME}
 
 USER ${NB_USER}
-ENTRYPOINT []
\ No newline at end of file
+ENTRYPOINT []