diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index a2a188e..f195088 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 FROM python:3.12-slim
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY requirements.txt .
-RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
+# debug: show requirements contents during build to ensure correct file is copied
+RUN echo "--- requirements.txt ---" && cat requirements.txt && echo "--- pip install start ---" \
+	&& pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 COPY app ./app
 CMD ["uvicorn", "app.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]