diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 978df2e..3c8d170 100755
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ FROM pytorch/pytorch:2.6.0-cuda12.4-cudnn9-runtime
 # Set environment variables
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
     PYTHONUNBUFFERED=TRUE \
-    PYTHONFAULTHANDLER=1
+    PYTHONFAULTHANDLER=1 \
+    MPLCONFIGDIR=/tmp/matplotlib \
+    CHAI_DOWNLOADS_DIR=/tmp/chai_downloads \
+    HF_HOME=/tmp/hf_home
 
 # Set working directory
 WORKDIR /workspace
@@ -14,6 +17,13 @@ RUN pip install --no-cache-dir \
     chai_lab==0.5.2 \
     "transformers>=4.30.0,<5.0.0"
 
+# Make package dirs writable for any user (K8s may run as non-root)
+RUN chmod -R a+rw /opt/conda/lib/python3.11/site-packages/chai_lab/ && \
+    mkdir -p /opt/conda/lib/python3.11/site-packages/downloads && \
+    chmod -R a+rw /opt/conda/lib/python3.11/site-packages/downloads && \
+    mkdir -p /tmp/chai_downloads /tmp/hf_home /tmp/matplotlib && \
+    chmod -R 777 /tmp/chai_downloads /tmp/hf_home /tmp/matplotlib
+
 # Verify installations
 RUN python -c "import torch; print(f'PyTorch: {torch.__version__}')" && \
     python -c "import transformers; print(f'transformers: {transformers.__version__}')" && \