diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f757986..5aa1320 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -83,11 +83,19 @@ RUN apt-get update \
         libudev1 \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 RUN rustup target add wasm32v1-none
-COPY --from=builder /out/bin/stellar /usr/local/bin/stellar
-RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/stellar
 
-ENV STELLAR_CONFIG_HOME=/config \
-    STELLAR_DATA_HOME=/data
+RUN useradd --create-home --home-dir /stellar --uid 1000 --shell /bin/bash stellar \
+    && mkdir -p /source /config /data \
+    && chown stellar:stellar /source /config /data
+
+COPY --from=builder --chown=root:root --chmod=0755 /out/bin/stellar /usr/local/bin/stellar
+
+ENV CARGO_HOME=/stellar/.cargo \
+    HOME=/stellar \
+    STELLAR_CONFIG_HOME=/config \
+    STELLAR_DATA_HOME=/data \
+    STELLAR_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1
+USER stellar
 WORKDIR /source
 
 ENTRYPOINT ["stellar"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 61d3b1c..34419a3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,6 +31,33 @@ Build a contract by mounting the contract directory at `/source`:
 docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/source" docker.io/stellar/stellar-cli:latest contract build --locked
 ```
 
+The image exposes four well-known paths:
+
+| Path       | What                                                                              |
+| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `/source`  | `WORKDIR`. Bind-mount your contract here.                                         |
+| `/config`  | `STELLAR_CONFIG_HOME`. Mount to persist network and identity configuration.       |
+| `/data`    | `STELLAR_DATA_HOME`. Mount to persist CLI data.                                   |
+| `/stellar` | Home for user `stellar` (UID 1000). Mount to persist the cargo cache (see below). |
+
+The image runs as user `stellar` (UID 1000) with `/stellar` as the home
+directory. `CARGO_HOME` resolves to `/stellar/.cargo` inside the
+container, which is wiped on exit by default.
+
+To reuse cargo's registry index, git checkouts, and crate sources across
+runs — and to make the image work under `--user "$(id -u):$(id -g)"` on
+Linux hosts whose UID is not 1000 — mount a writable host directory at
+`/stellar`:
+
+```sh
+mkdir -p /tmp/myproject
+docker run --rm \
+  --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)" \
+  -v /tmp/myproject:/stellar \
+  -v "$PWD:/source" \
+  docker.io/stellar/stellar-cli:latest contract build --locked
+```
+
 ## Verifiable builds ([SEP-58](https://github.com/stellar/stellar-protocol/blob/master/ecosystem/sep-0058.md))
 
 For verifiable references, **always pin to a per-arch single-architecture
diff --git a/scripts/repro_test.py b/scripts/repro_test.py
index c1cf29b..b9db093 100755
--- a/scripts/repro_test.py
+++ b/scripts/repro_test.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 import argparse
 import atexit
-import contextlib
+import os
 import re
 import shutil
 import sys
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ def build_and_hash(image: str, contract_dir: Path) -> str:
             "docker",
             "run",
             "--rm",
+            "--user",
+            f"{os.getuid()}:{os.getgid()}",
+            "-e",
+            "CARGO_HOME=/tmp/cargo",
             "--entrypoint",
             "bash",
             "-v",
@@ -103,35 +107,14 @@ def clone(repo: str, rev: str, workdir: Path) -> None:
     runner.run(["git", "-C", str(workdir), "checkout", "-q", "FETCH_HEAD"])
 
 
-def make_cleanup(image: str, workdir: Path, keep: bool):
+def make_cleanup(workdir: Path, keep: bool):
     def cleanup() -> None:
         if keep:
             common.log(f"keeping workdir on exit: {workdir}")
             return
         if not workdir.exists():
             return
-        # Files inside may be root-owned by the container builds. Wipe via
-        # docker so this works on Linux CI; fall back to host rm.
-        wipe = runner.run(
-            [
-                "docker",
-                "run",
-                "--rm",
-                "--entrypoint",
-                "sh",
-                "-v",
-                f"{workdir}:/work",
-                image,
-                "-c",
-                "find /work -mindepth 1 -delete",
-            ],
-            check=False,
-            capture_output=True,
-        )
-        if wipe.returncode != 0:
-            shutil.rmtree(workdir, ignore_errors=True)
-        with contextlib.suppress(OSError):
-            workdir.rmdir()
+        shutil.rmtree(workdir, ignore_errors=True)
 
     return cleanup
 
@@ -142,7 +125,7 @@ def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
 
     contracts = args.contracts or list(DEFAULT_CONTRACTS)
     workdir = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="repro-test."))
-    atexit.register(make_cleanup(args.image, workdir, args.keep_workdir))
+    atexit.register(make_cleanup(workdir, args.keep_workdir))
 
     clone(args.repo, args.rev, workdir)