diff --git a/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/Dockerfile.node b/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/Dockerfile.node
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4675233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/Dockerfile.node
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+FROM node:22-bookworm
+
+# Install Docker client (dind sidecar provides the daemon)
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+      docker.io \
+      git \
+      curl \
+      ca-certificates && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Verify installations
+RUN docker --version && node --version && git --version
diff --git a/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-node.yaml b/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-node.yaml
index c7861e8..9c130e3 100644
--- a/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-node.yaml
+++ b/k8s/infra/forgejo-runner/values-node.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 # (homelab has no CI; custom runner images built manually if desired)
 runner:
   name: node-runner
-  labels: "node:docker://node:22-bookworm"
+  # Custom image: node:22-bookworm + docker.io pre-installed
+  labels: "node:docker://forgejo.riotpiao.com/rock/forgejo-runner-node:latest"
 
 # GC CronJob renders only from the default (golang) values to avoid duplicates
 gc: