diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 8c7d01e3..bb381ce4 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ venv/
 .git/
 test_*.py
 .github/
+Dockerfile
+*.Dockerfile
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 331dca0c..9ef9d55c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ __pycache__/
 .idea/
 .pytest_cache/
 .env*
+dist/
 !.env-template
 rdf/
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index c3a97fe9..a34125ee 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY . .
 
 RUN poetry build
-RUN python -m venv --system-site-packages /opt/venv
-RUN pip install --no-cache-dir dist/*.whl
+RUN python3 -m venv --system-site-packages ${VIRTUAL_ENV}
+RUN ${VIRTUAL_ENV}/bin/pip3 install --no-cache-dir dist/*.whl
 
 #
 # Final
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ RUN apk update && \
       bash
 
 WORKDIR /app
-COPY . .
+# prez module is already built as a package and installed in $VIRTUAL_ENV as a library
+COPY main.py pyproject.toml ./
 
 ENTRYPOINT uvicorn prez.app:app --host=${HOST:-0.0.0.0} --port=${PORT:-8000} --proxy-headers
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/prez/config.py b/prez/config.py
index db02415c..88320463 100644
--- a/prez/config.py
+++ b/prez/config.py
@@ -67,9 +67,24 @@ def get_version(cls, values):
         values["prez_version"] = version
 
         if version is None or version == "":
-            values["prez_version"] = toml.load(
-                Path(Path(__file__).parent.parent) / "pyproject.toml"
-            )["tool"]["poetry"]["version"]
+            possible_locations = (
+                # dir above /prez, this is present in dev environments
+                # this is also used by derived projects to override the app version
+                Path(__file__).parent.parent,
+                # _inside_ /prez module, this is present in wheel builds
+                Path(__file__).parent,
+            )
+            p: Path
+            for p in possible_locations:
+                if (p / "pyproject.toml").exists():
+                    values["prez_version"] = toml.load(p / "pyproject.toml")["tool"][
+                        "poetry"
+                    ]["version"]
+                    break
+            else:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    "PREZ_VERSION not set, and cannot find a pyproject.toml to extract the version."
+                )
 
         return values
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 91363a86..0d1d52ad 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -3,6 +3,20 @@ name = "prez"
 version = "0.1.0.dev0"
 description = "A python application for displaying linked data on the web"
 authors = ["Jamie Feiss <jamie.feiss@gmail.com>", "Nicholas Car <nick@kurrawong.net>", "David Habgood <dcchabgood@gmail.com>"]
+packages = [
+    { include = "prez" },
+    { include = "pyproject.toml", format = "wheel", to="prez" },
+]
+include = [
+    { path = "./*.md", format = "sdist" },
+    { path = "LICENSE", format = "sdist" },
+    { path = "demo", format = "sdist" },
+    { path = "dev", format = "sdist" },
+    { path = "tests", format = "sdist" },
+    { path = "poetry.lock", format = "sdist" },
+    { path = "./*.whl", format = "sdist" },
+    { path = "*.toml", format = "sdist" }
+]
 
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = "^3.11"