diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index eb2b155..04851a3 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ COPY --chown=litellm:litellm \
 # 6. Install the extra Python deps that the router needs:
 #       - numpy   (for cosine similarity)
 #       - scikit-learn (for the Jaccard fallback)
-RUN python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
+RUN python3 -m ensurepip --upgrade && \
+    python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
 # 7. Expose the port used by LiteLLM
 EXPOSE 4000