diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d41d3063..c5264f9d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - M3U and EPG manager page no longer crashes when a playlist references a deleted channel group (Fixes screen blank on navigation)
 - Stream validation now returns original URL instead of redirected URL to prevent issues with temporary redirect URLs that expire before clients can connect
 - XtreamCodes EPG limit parameter now properly converted to integer to prevent type errors when accessing EPG listings (Fixes #781)
+- Docker container file permissions: Django management commands (`migrate`, `collectstatic`) now run as the non-root user to prevent root-owned `__pycache__` and static files from causing permission issues - Thanks [@sethwv](https://github.com/sethwv)
 - Stream validation now continues with GET request if HEAD request fails due to connection issues - Thanks [@kvnnap](https://github.com/kvnnap) (Fixes #782)
 - XtreamCodes M3U files now correctly set `x-tvg-url` and `url-tvg` headers to reference XC EPG URL (`xmltv.php`) instead of standard EPG endpoint when downloaded via XC API (Fixes #629)
 
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index dc437227..bfb35c11 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ RUN rm -rf /app/frontend
 # Copy built frontend assets
 COPY --from=frontend-builder /app/frontend/dist /app/frontend/dist
 
-# Run Django collectstatic
-RUN python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
-
 # Add timestamp argument
 ARG TIMESTAMP
 
diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
index 72eb5928..5de9bf0a 100755
--- a/docker/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ export POSTGRES_DIR=/data/db
 if [[ ! -f /etc/profile.d/dispatcharr.sh ]]; then
     # Define all variables to process
     variables=(
-        PATH VIRTUAL_ENV DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE PYTHONUNBUFFERED
+        PATH VIRTUAL_ENV DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE PYTHONUNBUFFERED PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE
         POSTGRES_DB POSTGRES_USER POSTGRES_PASSWORD POSTGRES_HOST POSTGRES_PORT
         DISPATCHARR_ENV DISPATCHARR_DEBUG DISPATCHARR_LOG_LEVEL
         REDIS_HOST REDIS_DB POSTGRES_DIR DISPATCHARR_PORT
@@ -174,9 +174,9 @@ else
     pids+=("$nginx_pid")
 fi
 
-cd /app
-python manage.py migrate --noinput
-python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
+# Run Django commands as non-root user to prevent permission issues
+su - $POSTGRES_USER -c "cd /app && python manage.py migrate --noinput"
+su - $POSTGRES_USER -c "cd /app && python manage.py collectstatic --noinput"
 
 # Select proper uwsgi config based on environment
 if [ "$DISPATCHARR_ENV" = "dev" ] && [ "$DISPATCHARR_DEBUG" != "true" ]; then
diff --git a/docker/init/03-init-dispatcharr.sh b/docker/init/03-init-dispatcharr.sh
index 03fe6816..0c317017 100644
--- a/docker/init/03-init-dispatcharr.sh
+++ b/docker/init/03-init-dispatcharr.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ DATA_DIRS=(
 APP_DIRS=(
     "/app/logo_cache"
     "/app/media"
+    "/app/static"
 )
 
 # Create all directories