diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 7fea4186e..a971b13ae 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -52,6 +52,30 @@ RUN ctest --test-dir /build --build-config ${SOURCEMETA_ONE_BUILD_TYPE} \
 
 FROM debian:trixie-slim
 
+# Install `gosu` so the runtime entrypoint can drop from root to the
+# unprivileged service account. We deliberately don't set `USER` on
+# this image so build-time `RUN` instructions (including those in
+# downstream consumer Dockerfiles) keep executing as root, matching
+# the well-trodden Postgres/Redis/MySQL pattern.
+#
+# `libcap2-bin` provides `setcap`, used below to grant the server
+# binary `CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE` so the dropped service account can
+# bind privileged ports (below 1024) if the operator chooses to run
+# without a separate TLS terminator in front of the image.
+RUN apt-get --yes update \
+  && apt-get install --yes --no-install-recommends gosu libcap2-bin \
+  && apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Create the unprivileged service account that the entrypoint will
+# `gosu` into. The UID sits above the typical 1000-range dev user
+# (so host-mounted volumes can be mapped unambiguously) and outside
+# the Debian system-user range (1-999) reserved for daemons.
+ARG SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID=10001
+RUN groupadd --system --gid "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID}" sourcemeta \
+  && useradd --system --uid "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID}" \
+       --gid "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID}" \
+       --no-create-home --shell /usr/sbin/nologin sourcemeta
+
 # See https://github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/blob/main/annotations.md#pre-defined-annotation-keys
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.url="https://one.sourcemeta.com"
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.documentation="https://one.sourcemeta.com"
@@ -77,6 +101,13 @@ COPY --from=builder /usr/share/sourcemeta/one \
 RUN ldd /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-index
 RUN ldd /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-server
 
+# File capabilities are filesystem extended attributes that do not
+# survive a cross-stage `COPY --from=builder`, so the capability has
+# to be applied here in the runtime stage after the binary lands.
+# `+ep` puts the capability in both the permitted and effective sets
+# of the process at exec time.
+RUN setcap cap_net_bind_service+ep /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-server
+
 # We expect images that extend this one to use this directory
 ARG SOURCEMETA_ONE_WORKDIR=/source
 ENV SOURCEMETA_ONE_WORKDIR=${SOURCEMETA_ONE_WORKDIR}
@@ -90,6 +121,20 @@ COPY docker/wrapper-index.sh /usr/bin/sourcemeta
 COPY docker/wrapper-server.sh /usr/bin/sourcemeta-server
 COPY docker/transaction-overlayfs.sh /usr/bin/sourcemeta-transaction-overlayfs
 
+# Pre-create the output directory and hand it to the service account
+# so the runtime server can read through it (and the optional
+# transactional re-index path can write through it) without
+# elevation. The chown is non-recursive to keep blast-radius bounded
+# if a build-arg override ever pointed the path at the rootfs root,
+# and we normalize via `realpath` so values like `/..`, `/foo/..`, or
+# symlinks that resolve to `/` are rejected too.
+RUN test -n "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT}" \
+  && mkdir -p "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT}" \
+  && resolved_output="$(realpath "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT}")" \
+  && test "${resolved_output}" != "/" \
+  && chown sourcemeta:sourcemeta "${resolved_output}" \
+  && chmod 775 "${resolved_output}"
+
 ENV SOURCEMETA_ONE_PORT=8000
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=1s --timeout=2s --start-period=1s --retries=10 CMD grep -qE \
   "^\s*[0-9]+:\s+[0-9A-F]+:$(printf '%04X' $SOURCEMETA_ONE_PORT)\s+[0-9A-F:]+\s+0A\s" \
diff --git a/docker/wrapper-server.sh b/docker/wrapper-server.sh
index 2e954b83d..21d69834f 100755
--- a/docker/wrapper-server.sh
+++ b/docker/wrapper-server.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,41 @@
 set -o errexit
 set -o nounset
 
-# For better shell expansion in the Dockerfile
+# For better shell expansion in the Dockerfile.
+#
+# When the entrypoint runs as root (the image's default execution
+# identity, kept that way so build-time `RUN` instructions in consumer
+# Dockerfiles are unsurprising), `gosu` drops privileges to the
+# unprivileged service account before the long-running server starts.
+# When the entrypoint is already running as a non-root account (e.g.
+# `docker run --user 1234`, or an orchestrator like OpenShift that
+# assigns an arbitrary UID via its restricted SCC), `gosu` would fail
+# because privilege drop requires root, so we just exec the server
+# directly and trust the caller's choice. Either path uses `exec`
+# (and `gosu` itself uses `execve(2)`), so SIGTERM and friends reach
+# the server process directly without an intermediate shell.
+#
+# The output directory is mode 775 owned by the `sourcemeta` group at
+# build time, so the default server (which only reads from it) works
+# at any UID. Operators that need write access from an arbitrary UID
+# (e.g. the optional transactional re-index path) should run as
+# `--user <UID>:<sourcemeta-gid>` (the GID matches the
+# `SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID` build arg, default `10001`) so the process
+# inherits the `sourcemeta` group and picks up the directory's
+# group-write bit, or bind-mount their own writable volume over the
+# output path.
+#
+# Binding `SOURCEMETA_ONE_PORT` to a privileged port (below 1024)
+# works even after the privilege drop because the server binary
+# carries `CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE` as a file capability, granted at
+# image build time.
+
+if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]
+then
+  exec /usr/sbin/gosu sourcemeta /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-server \
+    "$SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT" \
+    "$SOURCEMETA_ONE_PORT"
+fi
 
 exec /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-server \
   "$SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT" \
diff --git a/enterprise/Dockerfile b/enterprise/Dockerfile
index 42dfbea93..e5602e57e 100644
--- a/enterprise/Dockerfile
+++ b/enterprise/Dockerfile
@@ -76,11 +76,33 @@ RUN mkdir -p /usr/share/sourcemeta/one \
 
 FROM debian:trixie-slim
 
+# `gosu` lets the runtime entrypoint drop from root to the
+# unprivileged service account. We deliberately don't set `USER` on
+# this image so build-time `RUN` instructions (including those in
+# downstream consumer Dockerfiles) keep executing as root, matching
+# the well-trodden Postgres/Redis/MySQL pattern.
+#
+# `libcap2-bin` provides `setcap`, used below to grant the server
+# binary `CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE` so the dropped service account can
+# bind privileged ports (below 1024) if the operator chooses to run
+# without a separate TLS terminator in front of the image.
 RUN apt-get --yes update && apt-get install --yes --no-install-recommends \
-  openssl-provider-fips \
+  gosu libcap2-bin openssl-provider-fips \
   && apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 COPY --from=builder /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf
 
+# Create the unprivileged service account before the package purge
+# below removes `passwd` (and with it `useradd`). The account lives
+# in `/etc/passwd` after this point and survives the purge. The UID
+# sits above the typical 1000-range dev user (so host-mounted volumes
+# can be mapped unambiguously) and outside the Debian system-user
+# range (1-999) reserved for daemons.
+ARG SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID=10001
+RUN groupadd --system --gid "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID}" sourcemeta \
+  && useradd --system --uid "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID}" \
+       --gid "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_UID}" \
+       --no-create-home --shell /usr/sbin/nologin sourcemeta
+
 # Commercial editions require a paid license
 # See https://one.sourcemeta.com/commercial/
 
@@ -109,6 +131,13 @@ COPY --from=builder /usr/share/sourcemeta/one \
 RUN ldd /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-index
 RUN ldd /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-server
 
+# File capabilities are filesystem extended attributes that do not
+# survive a cross-stage `COPY --from=builder`, so the capability has
+# to be applied here in the runtime stage after the binary lands.
+# `+ep` puts the capability in both the permitted and effective sets
+# of the process at exec time.
+RUN setcap cap_net_bind_service+ep /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-server
+
 # Verify that the index binary uses system OpenSSL for cryptography
 RUN ldd /usr/bin/sourcemeta-one-index | grep libcrypto
 # Verify that the OpenSSL FIPS provider is configured and present
@@ -142,6 +171,20 @@ COPY docker/wrapper-index.sh /usr/bin/sourcemeta
 COPY docker/wrapper-server.sh /usr/bin/sourcemeta-server
 COPY docker/transaction-overlayfs.sh /usr/bin/sourcemeta-transaction-overlayfs
 
+# Pre-create the output directory and hand it to the service account
+# so the runtime server can read through it (and the optional
+# transactional re-index path can write through it) without
+# elevation. The chown is non-recursive to keep blast-radius bounded
+# if a build-arg override ever pointed the path at the rootfs root,
+# and we normalize via `realpath` so values like `/..`, `/foo/..`, or
+# symlinks that resolve to `/` are rejected too.
+RUN test -n "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT}" \
+  && mkdir -p "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT}" \
+  && resolved_output="$(realpath "${SOURCEMETA_ONE_OUTPUT}")" \
+  && test "${resolved_output}" != "/" \
+  && chown sourcemeta:sourcemeta "${resolved_output}" \
+  && chmod 775 "${resolved_output}"
+
 ENV SOURCEMETA_ONE_PORT=8000
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=1s --timeout=2s --start-period=1s --retries=10 CMD grep -qE \
   "^\s*[0-9]+:\s+[0-9A-F]+:$(printf '%04X' $SOURCEMETA_ONE_PORT)\s+[0-9A-F:]+\s+0A\s" \