diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_frontend.yml b/.github/workflows/build_frontend.yml
index b745ab65..fb6ca755 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_frontend.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_frontend.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
         with:
-          node-version: '18'
+          # Vite 8 requires ^20.19.0 or >=22.12.0; on Node 18 `npm run build`
+          # fails, which silently stops dist from being rebuilt.
+          node-version: '22'
           cache: 'npm'
           cache-dependency-path: frontend/package-lock.json
       - name: Install
diff --git a/frontend/Dockerfile b/frontend/Dockerfile
index 2102ca14..25d53109 100644
--- a/frontend/Dockerfile
+++ b/frontend/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-FROM node:18-alpine
+# Vite 8 requires Node ^20.19.0 or >=22.12.0; on Node 18 `npm run build` fails,
+# which is what breaks the Hugging Face Space build.
+FROM node:22-alpine
 
 # Use the existing node user (usually UID 1000)
 # Set up environment variables for the node user