diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 37a962c..646fb27 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 FROM php:8.4-fpm
 
+# Set working directory early to avoid conflicts with host files
+WORKDIR /var/www
+
 # Install system dependencies
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     git \
@@ -24,15 +27,13 @@ RUN apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 # Get latest Composer
 COPY --from=composer:latest /usr/bin/composer /usr/bin/composer
 
-# Set working directory
-WORKDIR /var/www
-
-# Copy existing application directory contents
+# Copy application files
 COPY --chown=www-data:www-data . /var/www
 
 # Change current user to www
 USER www-data
 
-# Expose port 8000 and start php-fpm server
+# Expose port 8000
 EXPOSE 8000
+
 CMD ["php", "artisan", "serve", "--host=0.0.0.0", "--port=8000"]