diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index aefc504c6..00e7fac95 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 *
 !ocrd*
 !Makefile
+!VERSION
 !LICENSE
 !README.md
 !.git
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 00bd8bb30..470e78b32 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ COPY ocrd ./ocrd
 COPY ocrd_modelfactory ./ocrd_modelfactory/
 COPY ocrd_models ./ocrd_models
 COPY ocrd_utils ./ocrd_utils
+COPY VERSION ./VERSION
 RUN mv ./ocrd_utils/ocrd_logging.conf /etc
 COPY ocrd_validators/ ./ocrd_validators
 COPY ocrd_network/ ./ocrd_network