diff --git a/Dockerfile.production b/Dockerfile.production
index f47aa0598..e29c7e4d3 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.production
+++ b/Dockerfile.production
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ RUN apt-get update -qq && \
   sudo libfile-mimeinfo-perl && \
   rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+# install gems
+COPY Gemfile* /tmp/
+WORKDIR /tmp
+RUN bundle install
+
 # create app directory
 ENV APP_HOME /usr/src/app
 RUN mkdir $APP_HOME
@@ -19,8 +24,6 @@ COPY . .
 RUN rm -f $APP_HOME/config/application.yml
 RUN rm -f $APP_HOME/production.env
 
-RUN bundle install
-
 ENV RAILS_ENV production
 ENV DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres@db/scinote_production
 RUN bash -c "PAPERCLIP_HASH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 128 | tr -d '\n') SECRET_KEY_BASE=$(openssl rand -hex 64) rake assets:precompile"