diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-docker.yml b/.github/workflows/build-docker.yml
index 47be5d862..7cd078cb9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-docker.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ name: Build containers
 
 on:
     workflow_dispatch:
+    pull_request:
     push:
         paths:
             - 'docker/*'
@@ -39,6 +40,8 @@ jobs:
             packages: write
         steps:
             - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+              with:
+                  fetch-depth: 0
 
             - name: login to GitHub Container Registry
               uses: docker/login-action@v2
@@ -55,9 +58,7 @@ jobs:
               run: |
                   # Replace / (invalid tag character) with .
                   SANITIZED_REF="$(echo ${{github.ref_name}} | sed 's|/|.|g')"
-                  cd docker && docker build \
-                        --build-arg="INVEST_REPO=${{ github.repository }}" \
-                        --build-arg="INVEST_VERSION=${{ github.sha }}" \
+                  docker build -f docker/Dockerfile \
                         -t ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}:latest \
                         -t ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}:${{ github.sha }} \
                         -t ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}:${SANITIZED_REF} \
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 52f610697..aca89a8bc 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,26 +1,33 @@
 # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1
 
 # Build the InVEST wheel in a separate container stage
-FROM debian:12.2 AS build
-ARG INVEST_VERSION="main"
-ARG INVEST_REPO="natcap/invest"
+FROM debian:12.11 AS build
 RUN apt update && apt install -y python3 python3-dev python3-pip python3-build build-essential git python3.11-venv libgdal-dev
-RUN cd / && \
-        git clone https://github.com/${INVEST_REPO}.git && \
-        cd $(basename ${INVEST_REPO}) && \
-        git checkout ${INVEST_VERSION} && \
-        python3 -m build
+
+# only copy in the files needed for building the wheel
+ADD src /invest/src
+ADD pyproject.toml /invest/pyproject.toml
+ADD setup.py /invest/setup.py
+ADD requirements.txt /invest/requirements.txt
+ADD .git /invest/.git
+RUN cd /invest && python3 -m build
 
 # Create the container for distribution that has runtime dependencies.
-FROM mambaorg/micromamba:1.5.0-bookworm-slim
+FROM mambaorg/micromamba:2.1.1-debian12-slim
 # Python version should match the version used in stage 1.
 # If we update the stage 1 debian version, also update this python version
 ARG PYTHON_VERSION="3.11"
 COPY --from=build /invest/dist/*.whl /tmp/
 
+
+# Define this to be the GDAL version used to build the InVEST wheel in the debian step.
+# Check the debian package repo for the debian release above to confirm the version.
+# Debian's GDAL version will undoubtedly be earlier than what's available in conda-forge.
+ARG DEBIAN_GDAL_VERSION="3.6"
+
 # The environment.yml file will be built during github actions.
-COPY --chown=$MAMBA_USER:$MAMBA_USER environment.yml /tmp/environment.yml
-RUN micromamba install -y -n base -c conda-forge python==${PYTHON_VERSION} && \
+COPY --chown=$MAMBA_USER:$MAMBA_USER docker/environment.yml /tmp/environment.yml
+RUN micromamba install -y -n base -c conda-forge python==${PYTHON_VERSION} gdal=${DEBIAN_GDAL_VERSION} && \
         micromamba install -y -n base -c conda-forge -f /tmp/environment.yml && \
         micromamba clean --all --yes && \
         /opt/conda/bin/python -m pip install /tmp/*.whl && \