diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 29668e35269..c35698590ea 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@
 ARG JDK_VERSION=11
 
 # Step 1 - Run Maven Build
-FROM ufal/dspace-dependencies:dspace-7_x as build
+FROM ufal/dspace-dependencies:dspace-7_x AS build
 ARG TARGET_DIR=dspace-installer
 WORKDIR /app
 # The dspace-installer directory will be written to /install
 RUN mkdir /install \
     && chown -Rv dspace: /install \
     && chown -Rv dspace: /app
-USER dspace
+USER 10001
 # Copy the DSpace source code (from local machine) into the workdir (excluding .dockerignore contents)
 ADD --chown=dspace . /app/
 # Build DSpace (note: this build doesn't include the optional, deprecated "dspace-rest" webapp)
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ RUN mvn --no-transfer-progress package && \
   mvn clean
 
 # Step 2 - Run Ant Deploy
-FROM openjdk:${JDK_VERSION}-slim as ant_build
+FROM openjdk:${JDK_VERSION}-slim AS ant_build
 ARG TARGET_DIR=dspace-installer
 # COPY the /install directory from 'build' container to /dspace-src in this container
 COPY --from=build /install /dspace-src
@@ -48,16 +48,19 @@ RUN ant init_installation update_configs update_code update_webapps
 # Step 3 - Run tomcat
 # Create a new tomcat image that does not retain the the build directory contents
 FROM tomcat:9-jdk${JDK_VERSION}
+# Create a custom dspace user with same gid/uid as last stage
+RUN groupadd -g 10002 dspace && \
+    useradd  -u 10001 -g dspace dspace
 # NOTE: DSPACE_INSTALL must align with the "dspace.dir" default configuration.
 ENV DSPACE_INSTALL=/dspace
 # Copy the /dspace directory from 'ant_build' container to /dspace in this container
-COPY --from=ant_build /dspace $DSPACE_INSTALL
+COPY --from=ant_build --chown=10001:10002 /dspace $DSPACE_INSTALL
 # Expose Tomcat port and AJP port
 EXPOSE 8080 8009 8000
 # Give java extra memory (2GB)
 ENV JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx2000m
-COPY scripts/restart_debug/* /usr/local/tomcat/bin
-COPY scripts/index-scripts/* /dspace/bin
+COPY --chown=10001:10002 scripts/restart_debug/* /usr/local/tomcat/bin
+COPY --chown=10001:10002 scripts/index-scripts/* /dspace/bin
 # Link the DSpace 'server' webapp into Tomcat's webapps directory.
 # This ensures that when we start Tomcat, it runs from /server path (e.g. http://localhost:8080/server/)
 RUN ln -s $DSPACE_INSTALL/webapps/server   /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/server
@@ -66,6 +69,8 @@ RUN ln -s $DSPACE_INSTALL/webapps/server   /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/server
 # Please note that server webapp should only run on one path at a time.
 #RUN mv /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/ROOT /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/ROOT.bk && \
 #    ln -s $DSPACE_INSTALL/webapps/server   /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/ROOT
+# Run as dspace user
+USER 10001
 
 WORKDIR /usr/local/tomcat/bin
 RUN chmod u+x redebug.sh undebug.sh custom_run.sh
diff --git a/Dockerfile.cli b/Dockerfile.cli
index a935c641287..e9e6638cd35 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.cli
+++ b/Dockerfile.cli
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@
 ARG JDK_VERSION=11
 
 # Step 1 - Run Maven Build
-FROM ufal/dspace-dependencies:dspace-7_x as build
+FROM ufal/dspace-dependencies:dspace-7_x AS build
 ARG TARGET_DIR=dspace-installer
 WORKDIR /app
 # The dspace-installer directory will be written to /install
 RUN mkdir /install \
     && chown -Rv dspace: /install \
     && chown -Rv dspace: /app
-USER dspace
+USER 10001
 # Copy the DSpace source code (from local machine) into the workdir (excluding .dockerignore contents)
 ADD --chown=dspace . /app/
 # Build DSpace.  Copy the dspace-installer directory to /install.  Clean up the build to keep the docker image small
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ RUN ant init_installation update_configs update_code
 FROM openjdk:${JDK_VERSION}
 # NOTE: DSPACE_INSTALL must align with the "dspace.dir" default configuration.
 ENV DSPACE_INSTALL=/dspace
+RUN groupadd -g 10002 dspace && \
+    useradd  -u 10001 -g dspace dspace
 # Copy the /dspace directory from 'ant_build' container to /dspace in this container
-COPY --from=ant_build /dspace $DSPACE_INSTALL
+COPY --from=ant_build --chown=10001:10002 /dspace $DSPACE_INSTALL
 # Give java extra memory (1GB)
 ENV JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx1000m
+USER 10001
diff --git a/Dockerfile.dependencies b/Dockerfile.dependencies
index a55b323339d..920e4b52214 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.dependencies
+++ b/Dockerfile.dependencies
@@ -11,9 +11,8 @@ FROM maven:3-openjdk-${JDK_VERSION}-slim as build
 ARG TARGET_DIR=dspace-installer
 WORKDIR /app
 # Create the 'dspace' user account & home directory
-RUN useradd dspace \
-    && mkdir -p /home/dspace \
-    && chown -Rv dspace: /home/dspace
+RUN groupadd -g 10002 dspace && \
+    useradd  -u 10001 -g dspace dspace
 RUN chown -Rv dspace: /app
 # Need git to support buildnumber-maven-plugin, which lets us know what version of DSpace is being run.
 RUN apt-get update \
@@ -22,10 +21,10 @@ RUN apt-get update \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Switch to dspace user & run below commands as that user
-USER dspace
+USER 10001
 
 # Copy the DSpace source code (from local machine) into the workdir (excluding .dockerignore contents)
-ADD --chown=dspace . /app/
+ADD --chown=10001:10002 . /app/
 
 # Trigger the installation of all maven dependencies (hide download progress messages)
 RUN mvn --no-transfer-progress package
diff --git a/Dockerfile.test b/Dockerfile.test
index eaa61b25170..5f0d86b2414 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.test
+++ b/Dockerfile.test
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 ARG JDK_VERSION=11
 
 # Step 1 - Run Maven Build
-FROM ufal/dspace-dependencies:dspace-7_x as build
+FROM ufal/dspace-dependencies:dspace-7_x AS build
 ARG TARGET_DIR=dspace-installer
 WORKDIR /app
 # The dspace-installer directory will be written to /install
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ RUN mvn --no-transfer-progress package -Pdspace-rest && \
   mv /app/dspace/target/${TARGET_DIR}/* /install && \
   mvn clean
 
-# Step 2 - Run Ant Deploy
-FROM openjdk:${JDK_VERSION}-slim as ant_build
+# Step 2 - Run Ant Deploy 
+FROM openjdk:${JDK_VERSION}-slim AS ant_build
 ARG TARGET_DIR=dspace-installer
 # COPY the /install directory from 'build' container to /dspace-src in this container
 COPY --from=build /install /dspace-src
@@ -52,8 +52,11 @@ RUN ant init_installation update_configs update_code update_webapps
 FROM tomcat:9-jdk${JDK_VERSION}
 ENV DSPACE_INSTALL=/dspace
 ENV TOMCAT_INSTALL=/usr/local/tomcat
+# Create a custom dspace user with same gid/uid as last stage
+RUN groupadd -g 10002 dspace && \
+    useradd  -u 10001 -g dspace dspace
 # Copy the /dspace directory from 'ant_build' containger to /dspace in this container
-COPY --from=ant_build /dspace $DSPACE_INSTALL
+COPY --from=ant_build --chown=10001:10002 /dspace $DSPACE_INSTALL
 # Enable the AJP connector in Tomcat's server.xml
 # NOTE: secretRequired="false" should only be used when AJP is NOT accessible from an external network. But, secretRequired="true" isn't supported by mod_proxy_ajp until Apache 2.5
 RUN sed -i '/Service name="Catalina".*/a \\n    <Connector protocol="AJP/1.3" port="8009" address="0.0.0.0" redirectPort="8443" URIEncoding="UTF-8" secretRequired="false" />' $TOMCAT_INSTALL/conf/server.xml
@@ -78,5 +81,5 @@ RUN ln -s $DSPACE_INSTALL/webapps/server   /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/server   &&
 
 # Overwrite the v6.x (deprecated) REST API's web.xml, so that we can run it on HTTP (defaults to requiring HTTPS)
 # WARNING: THIS IS OBVIOUSLY INSECURE. NEVER DO THIS IN PRODUCTION.
-COPY dspace/src/main/docker/test/rest_web.xml $DSPACE_INSTALL/webapps/rest/WEB-INF/web.xml
+COPY --chown=10001:10002 dspace/src/main/docker/test/rest_web.xml $DSPACE_INSTALL/webapps/rest/WEB-INF/web.xml
 RUN sed -i -e "s|\${dspace.dir}|$DSPACE_INSTALL|" $DSPACE_INSTALL/webapps/rest/WEB-INF/web.xml