diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 36d0294f..abde177d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,16 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/), and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.5.3] - 2026-09-25
+
+### Fixed
+
+- The Docker container no longer crashes on startup. SQLAlchemy 2.1 broke startup, so it is now capped below 2.1.
+
+### Changed
+
+- The Docker image now installs the exact dependency versions from `uv.lock`, so new upstream releases can't break a build.
+
 ## [0.5.2] - 2026-09-25
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 48c09ec1..db3d4989 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -20,11 +20,15 @@ WORKDIR /app
 RUN apt-get update \
 	&& DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends build-essential curl gosu tzdata \
 	&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-COPY pyproject.toml README.md CHANGELOG.md ./
+COPY --from=ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:0.12.19 /uv /usr/local/bin/uv
+COPY pyproject.toml uv.lock README.md CHANGELOG.md ./
+# install the exact versions from uv.lock so new upstream releases can't break the image
+RUN uv export --frozen --no-dev --no-emit-project -o /tmp/requirements.txt \
+	&& uv pip install --system --no-cache -r /tmp/requirements.txt \
+	&& rm /tmp/requirements.txt
 COPY backend ./backend
 COPY docker/entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh
-RUN python -m pip install --upgrade pip \
-	&& python -m pip install .
+RUN uv pip install --system --no-cache --no-deps .
 RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh \
 	&& mkdir -p /app/data/database /app/data/logs /app/data/static/avatars
 EXPOSE 8000
diff --git a/backend/api/main.py b/backend/api/main.py
index cc498416..fbf83b11 100644
--- a/backend/api/main.py
+++ b/backend/api/main.py
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI) -> AsyncGenerator[None, None]:
 fastapi_app = FastAPI(
     title="reclaimerr API",
     description="Media server cleanup and deletion management tool",
-    version="0.5.2",
+    version="0.5.3",
     lifespan=lifespan,
 )
 
diff --git a/backend/core/__version__.py b/backend/core/__version__.py
index 9c1f394c..8aaeb84c 100644
--- a/backend/core/__version__.py
+++ b/backend/core/__version__.py
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@
 program_name = "Reclaimerr"
 program_url = "https://github.com/jessielw/reclaimerr"
 
-__version__ = VersionInfo.parse("0.5.2")
+__version__ = VersionInfo.parse("0.5.3")
diff --git a/frontend/package-lock.json b/frontend/package-lock.json
index 4c83cc75..31577a47 100644
--- a/frontend/package-lock.json
+++ b/frontend/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "reclaimerr-web",
-  "version": "0.5.2",
+  "version": "0.5.3",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "reclaimerr-web",
-      "version": "0.5.2",
+      "version": "0.5.3",
       "dependencies": {
         "@tailwindcss/typography": "^0.5.19",
         "pathe": "^2.0.3",
diff --git a/frontend/package.json b/frontend/package.json
index 0b1526db..162d9ee7 100644
--- a/frontend/package.json
+++ b/frontend/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "reclaimerr-web",
-  "version": "0.5.2",
+  "version": "0.5.3",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "vite",
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/version.ts b/frontend/src/lib/version.ts
index 5c8df723..1880c6c9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/version.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/version.ts
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export const VERSION = "0.5.2";
+export const VERSION = "0.5.3";
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c54a109d..82f5990b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "reclaimerr"
-version = "0.5.2"
+version = "0.5.3"
 description = "Backend of Reclaimerr"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.11,<3.14"
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "python-dotenv>=1.2.3",
     "semver>=3.1.0",
     "slowapi>=0.1.10",
-    "sqlalchemy[asyncio]>=2.0.54",
+    "sqlalchemy[asyncio]>=2.0.54,<2.1",
     "tenacity>=9.1.4",
 ]
 
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 23a18c4c..a26a60c9 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1559,7 +1559,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "reclaimerr"
-version = "0.5.2"
+version = "0.5.3"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "aiosqlite" },
@@ -1631,7 +1631,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "python-iso639", specifier = ">=2026.7.23" },
     { name = "semver", specifier = ">=3.1.0" },
     { name = "slowapi", specifier = ">=0.1.10" },
-    { name = "sqlalchemy", extras = ["asyncio"], specifier = ">=2.0.54" },
+    { name = "sqlalchemy", extras = ["asyncio"], specifier = ">=2.0.54,<2.1" },
     { name = "tenacity", specifier = ">=9.1.4" },
     { name = "uvicorn", marker = "extra == 'desktop'", specifier = ">=0.53.0" },
     { name = "zensical", marker = "extra == 'docs'", specifier = ">=0.0.63" },