diff --git a/.forgejo/runner/Dockerfile b/.forgejo/runner/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e3bfa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.forgejo/runner/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+FROM code.forgejo.org/oci/docker:cli
+
+# Install Node 24 from Alpine
+RUN apk add --no-cache nodejs-current npm bash curl
+
+# Verify installations
+RUN docker --version && node --version && npm --version
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/deploy.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/deploy.yml
index 25a5d56..13c76a6 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -8,9 +8,28 @@ on:
       - "v*.*.*"   # only match version tags like v1.0.0
 
 jobs:
+  prepare:
+    name: Build & push runner image
+    runs-on: docker-cli-node24
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout runner Dockerfile
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+        with:
+          sparse-checkout: |
+            .forgejo/runner/Dockerfile
+          sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+          fetch-depth: 1
+
+      - name: Build & push runner image
+        run: |
+          docker build --network=host -t ${{ vars.REGISTRY_URL }}/minecraftstatus/runner:latest -f .forgejo/runner/Dockerfile .
+          docker push ${{ vars.REGISTRY_URL }}/minecraftstatus/runner:latest
+
   build-and-deploy:
     name: Build, push & deploy
     runs-on: docker-cli-node24
+    container:
+      image: ${{ vars.REGISTRY_URL }}/minecraftstatus/runner:latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v5