diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7e39904a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+.git
+.github
+docs
+**/__pycache__
+*.egg-info
+.pytest_cache
+Dockerfile
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 9b9cb002..6d583bbd 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -23,34 +23,63 @@
 FROM ubuntu:22.04
 
 ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND="noninteractive"
-ENV LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1
-ENV NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES \
-    ${NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES:-all}
 
-ENV NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES \
-    ${NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES:+$NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES,}graphics
+# Render headless by default. Override at runtime for GUI use, e.g.:
+#   docker run -e QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix ...
+ENV QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen
 
+# System libs: OpenGL runtime (pyqtgraph/PyOpenGL), Qt6 runtime (PyQt6 wheels),
+# and the Qt6 xcb platform plugin libs for running with a forwarded X display.
 RUN apt-get update --fix-missing && \
-    apt-get install -y \
+    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
                     python3-dev \
                     python3-pip \
                     git \
                     build-essential \
-                    libgl1-mesa-dev \
-                    mesa-utils \
-                    libglu1-mesa-dev \
-                    fontconfig \
-                    libfreetype6-dev
+                    libgl1 \
+                    libegl1 \
+                    libopengl0 \
+                    libglu1-mesa \
+                    libglib2.0-0 \
+                    libfontconfig1 \
+                    libdbus-1-3 \
+                    libsm6 \
+                    libxrender1 \
+                    libxext6 \
+                    libxkbcommon-x11-0 \
+                    libxcb-cursor0 \
+                    libxcb-icccm4 \
+                    libxcb-image0 \
+                    libxcb-keysyms1 \
+                    libxcb-randr0 \
+                    libxcb-render-util0 \
+                    libxcb-shape0 \
+                    libxcb-xkb1 && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 RUN pip3 install --upgrade pip
-RUN pip3 install PyOpenGL \
-                 PyOpenGL_accelerate
 
-RUN mkdir /f1tenth_gym
 COPY . /f1tenth_gym
 
-RUN cd /f1tenth_gym && \
-    pip3 install -e .
+# arm64: PyQt6 6.7.1 is the newest release with an aarch64 wheel compatible
+# with Ubuntu 22.04's glibc 2.35 — newer ones need glibc >= 2.39, so pip
+# falls back to the sdist and fails looking for qmake (seen on Apple
+# Silicon). x86_64 is unaffected by the constraint.
+RUN echo 'pyqt6 == 6.7.1; platform_machine == "aarch64"' > /tmp/pip-constraints.txt && \
+    cd /f1tenth_gym && \
+    pip3 install -c /tmp/pip-constraints.txt -e .
+
+# Smoke test: step the env and render a frame offscreen. Also bakes the
+# default track (downloaded on first use) into the image.
+RUN python3 -c "\
+import gymnasium as gym; \
+import f1tenth_gym; \
+env = gym.make('f1tenth_gym:f1tenth-v0', render_mode='rgb_array'); \
+env.reset(); \
+[env.step(env.action_space.sample()) for _ in range(50)]; \
+frame = env.render(); \
+assert frame is not None and frame.size > 0; \
+print('smoke test OK')"
 
 WORKDIR /f1tenth_gym
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 53afd3ac..cc11084d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,10 +46,17 @@ python examples/waypoint_follow.py
 
 ### Using Docker
 
-A Dockerfile is also provided with support for the GUI with nvidia-docker (nvidia GPU required):
+A Dockerfile is also provided. The image renders headless by default (Qt offscreen), no GPU required:
 ```bash
-docker build -t f1tenth_gym_container -f Dockerfile .
-docker run --gpus all -it -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix f1tenth_gym_container
+docker build -t f1tenth_gym .
+docker run -it f1tenth_gym
+# inside the container:
+python3 examples/waypoint_follow.py
+```
+
+To render to a display instead, forward your X server and override the Qt platform:
+```bash
+docker run -it -e QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix f1tenth_gym
 ```
 
 ## Citing