diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 688c86c8..d60f49c7 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -37,13 +37,14 @@
 **/Thumbs.db
 **/yarn-debug.log*
 **/yarn-error.log*
-/fluxer_app/src/data/emojis.json
-# Don't block locale files - they're needed for the build
-#!/fluxer_app/src/locales/*/messages.js
+# Don't block emojis.json and locale files - they're needed for the build
+#!/fluxer_app/src/data/emojis.json
+#/fluxer_app/src/locales/*/messages.js
 dev
 !fluxer_app/dist
 !fluxer_app/dist/**
 !fluxer_devops/cassandra/migrations
-# Allow build scripts and locale files
+# Explicitly allow critical build data
+!fluxer_app/src/data/
+!fluxer_app/src/locales/
 !**/scripts/
-!**/locales/