diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 01aa7e46..9b215a56 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache --virtual .merge-deps rsync \
  && rsync -a --ignore-existing /opt/prod-node-modules/ ./node_modules/ \
  && rm -rf /opt/prod-node-modules \
  && apk del .merge-deps
+# pg_dump for the backup/DR bundle engine (src/lib/services/backup.service.ts
+# spawns `pg_dump`). Version pinned to match the postgres:16 server.
+RUN apk add --no-cache postgresql16-client
 USER nextjs
 EXPOSE 3000
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=20s --retries=3 \
diff --git a/Dockerfile.worker b/Dockerfile.worker
index c21a1c66..92b0737d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.worker
+++ b/Dockerfile.worker
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
 RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@10.33.2 --activate
 RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs && adduser --system --uid 1001 worker
 WORKDIR /app
+# pg_dump for the scheduled backup-push cron (maintenance worker runs
+# runScheduledBackupPush → pg_dump). Pinned to match the postgres:16 server.
+RUN apk add --no-cache postgresql16-client
 RUN chown -R worker:nodejs /app
 USER worker
 COPY --chown=worker:nodejs package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./