diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8d917ba063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# This file excludes paths from the Docker build context.
+#
+# By default, Docker's build context includes all files (and folders) in the
+# current directory. Even if a file isn't copied into the container it is still sent to
+# the Docker daemon.
+#
+# There are multiple reasons to exclude files from the build context:
+#
+# 1. Prevent nested folders from being copied into the container (ex: exclude
+#    /assets/node_modules when copying /assets)
+# 2. Reduce the size of the build context and improve build time (ex. /build, /deps, /doc)
+# 3. Avoid sending files containing sensitive information
+#
+# More information on using .dockerignore is available here:
+# https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/builder/#dockerignore-file
+
+.dockerignore
+
+# Ignore git, but keep git HEAD and refs to access current commit hash if needed:
+#
+# $ cat .git/HEAD | awk '{print ".git/"$2}' | xargs cat
+# d0b8727759e1e0e7aa3d41707d12376e373d5ecc
+.git
+!.git/HEAD
+!.git/refs
+
+# Common development/test artifacts
+/cover/
+/doc/
+/test/
+/tmp/
+.elixir_ls
+plausible-report.xml
+.env
+.idea
+*.iml
+*.log
+*.code-workspace
+.vscode
+
+# Mix artifacts
+/_build/
+/deps/
+*.ez
+
+# Generated on crash by the VM
+erl_crash.dump
+
+# If NPM crashes, it generates a log, let's ignore it too.
+npm-debug.log
+
+# Static artifacts - These should be fetched and built inside the Docker image
+/assets/node_modules/
+/tracker/node_modules/
+/priv/static/cache_manifest.json
+/priv/static/css
+/priv/static/js
+/priv/version.json
+
+# Auto-generated tracker files
+/priv/tracker/js/*.js
+
+# Dializer
+/priv/plts/*.plt
+/priv/plts/*.plt.hash
+
+# Geolocation databases
+/priv/geodb/*.mmdb
+/priv/geodb/*.mmdb.gz
+
+# Docker volumes
+.clickhouse_db_vol*
+plausible_db*
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-public-images.yml b/.github/workflows/build-public-images.yml
index ab2a024d3e..0d12f6331b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-public-images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-public-images.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
           build-args: |
             MIX_ENV=small
             BUILD_METADATA=${{ steps.meta.outputs.json }}
-            ERL_FLAGS=+JPperf true
+            ERL_FLAGS=+JMsingle true
 
       - name: Image digest
         run: echo ${{ steps.docker_build.outputs.digest }}
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 72b16e29bf..d202ff7cf1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 - Allow custom event timeseries in stats API plausible/analytics#3505
 - Fixes for sites with UTF characters in domain plausible/analytics#3560
 - Fix crash when using special characters in filter plausible/analytics#3634
+- Allow running the container with arbitrary UID plausible/analytics#2986
 
 ## v2.0.0 - 2023-07-12
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 555a380660..1411c7b44e 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -64,18 +64,15 @@ ENV LANG=C.UTF-8
 ARG MIX_ENV=small
 ENV MIX_ENV=$MIX_ENV
 
-RUN apk upgrade --no-cache
+RUN adduser -S -H -u 999 -G nogroup plausible -g 'Plausible Analytics'
 
+RUN apk upgrade --no-cache
 RUN apk add --no-cache openssl ncurses libstdc++ libgcc ca-certificates
 
-COPY ./rel/docker-entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
+COPY --from=buildcontainer --chmod=a+rX /app/_build/${MIX_ENV}/rel/plausible /app
+COPY --chmod=755 ./rel/docker-entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 
-RUN chmod a+x /entrypoint.sh && \
-  adduser -h /app -u 1000 -s /bin/sh -D plausibleuser
-
-COPY --from=buildcontainer /app/_build/${MIX_ENV}/rel/plausible /app
-RUN chown -R plausibleuser:plausibleuser /app
-USER plausibleuser
+USER 999
 WORKDIR /app
 ENV LISTEN_IP=0.0.0.0
 ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]
diff --git a/config/runtime.exs b/config/runtime.exs
index 844e9a2694..f70928b240 100644
--- a/config/runtime.exs
+++ b/config/runtime.exs
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ ip_geolocation_db = get_var_from_path_or_env(config_dir, "IP_GEOLOCATION_DB", ge
 geonames_source_file = get_var_from_path_or_env(config_dir, "GEONAMES_SOURCE_FILE")
 maxmind_license_key = get_var_from_path_or_env(config_dir, "MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY")
 maxmind_edition = get_var_from_path_or_env(config_dir, "MAXMIND_EDITION", "GeoLite2-City")
-maxmind_cache_dir = get_var_from_path_or_env(config_dir, "PERSISTENT_CACHE_DIR")
+persistent_cache_dir = get_var_from_path_or_env(config_dir, "PERSISTENT_CACHE_DIR")
 
 if System.get_env("DISABLE_AUTH") do
   Logger.warning("DISABLE_AUTH env var is no longer supported")
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ geo_opts =
       [
         license_key: maxmind_license_key,
         edition: maxmind_edition,
-        cache_dir: maxmind_cache_dir,
+        cache_dir: persistent_cache_dir,
         async: true
       ]
 
@@ -689,9 +689,7 @@ else
     traces_exporter: :none
 end
 
-config :tzdata,
-       :data_dir,
-       get_var_from_path_or_env(config_dir, "STORAGE_DIR", Application.app_dir(:tzdata, "priv"))
+config :tzdata, :data_dir, Path.join(persistent_cache_dir || System.tmp_dir!(), "tzdata_data")
 
 # Temporarily disable tzdata auto-updating
 config :tzdata, :autoupdate, :disabled
diff --git a/lib/plausible/geo.ex b/lib/plausible/geo.ex
index bd245a3b5c..cb351f82f4 100644
--- a/lib/plausible/geo.ex
+++ b/lib/plausible/geo.ex
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ defmodule Plausible.Geo do
     * `:edition` - the name of the MaxMind database to be downloaded from MaxMind
       servers. Defaults to `GeoLite2-City`.
 
+    * `:cache_dir` - if set, the downloaded .mmdb files are cached there across
+      restarts.
+
     * `:async` - when used, configures the database loading to run
       asynchronously.
 
@@ -42,17 +45,19 @@ defmodule Plausible.Geo do
     cond do
       license_key = opts[:license_key] ->
         edition = opts[:edition] || "GeoLite2-City"
+        maxmind_opts = [license_key: license_key]
 
-        if is_binary(opts[:cache_dir]) do
-          :ok =
-            :locus.start_loader(@db, {:maxmind, edition},
-              license_key: license_key,
+        loader_opts =
+          if is_binary(opts[:cache_dir]) do
+            [
               database_cache_file:
                 String.to_charlist(Path.join(opts[:cache_dir], edition <> ".mmdb.gz"))
-            )
-        else
-          :ok = :locus.start_loader(@db, {:maxmind, edition}, license_key: license_key)
-        end
+            ]
+          else
+            [:no_cache]
+          end
+
+        :ok = :locus.start_loader(@db, {:maxmind, edition}, maxmind_opts ++ loader_opts)
 
       path = opts[:path] ->
         :ok = :locus.start_loader(@db, path)