diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 19bcd10..1c5dced 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -31,8 +31,11 @@ RUN apt-get update \
 COPY backend/ ./backend/
 COPY frontend/ ./frontend/
 
-# Copy pre-generated VERSION file (generated by build.sh before docker build)
-COPY backend/VERSION ./backend/VERSION
+# Bake version: build.sh/CI pre-generate backend/VERSION (copied above);
+# plain `docker compose build` has no such file (gitignored) — fall back
+# to the VERSION build arg so the image always carries a version string.
+ARG VERSION=0.0.0-dev
+RUN test -f backend/VERSION || echo "$VERSION" > backend/VERSION
 
 # Create non-root user for security + data directory for auth persistence
 # Using explicit UID/GID 1000 to match common host user and docker-compose settings
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index b8513e4..a7db11b 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ services:
   obsigate:
     build:
       context: .
+      args:
+        # VERSION est injecte par build.sh/CI via `git describe` ;
+        # sans variable d'env, l'image tombe sur 0.0.0-dev (fallback Dockerfile).
+        VERSION: ${VERSION:-0.0.0-dev}
     image: obsigate:latest
     container_name: obsigate
     user: "1000:1000"