diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f99b62c..c2e61d4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 FROM python:3.9
 
-RUN pip install cellxgene-gateway 'MarkupSafe<2.1'
+RUN pip install --upgrade pip \
+    && pip install cellxgene-gateway 'MarkupSafe<2.1'
 
 ENV CELLXGENE_DATA=/cellxgene-data
 ENV CELLXGENE_LOCATION=/usr/local/bin/cellxgene