diff --git a/Dockerfile.wes b/Dockerfile.wes
index be21812..84f40a2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.wes
+++ b/Dockerfile.wes
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ WORKDIR /opt/bioemu
 RUN python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip && \
     pip install --no-cache-dir bioemu mdtraj scikit-learn pandas matplotlib seaborn
 
+# Add user entry for UID 1000 (k8s default) to avoid getpwuid errors
+RUN useradd -u 1000 -m -s /bin/bash nextflow || true
+
 RUN mkdir -p /opt/bioemu/scripts/ /data /results && chmod -R 777 /data /results
 
 COPY calculate_gibbs.py /opt/bioemu/scripts/