diff --git a/dockerimg/Dockerfile.base b/dockerimg/Dockerfile.base
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca16e5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dockerimg/Dockerfile.base
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+FROM golang:1.24-bookworm
+
+# Switch from dash to bash by default.
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-euxo", "pipefail", "-c"]
+
+# attempt to keep package installs lean
+RUN printf '%s\n' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/man/*' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/doc/*' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/doc-base/*' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/info/*' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/locale/*' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/groff/*' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/lintian/*' \
+      'path-exclude=/usr/share/zoneinfo/*' \
+    > /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/01_nodoc
+
+RUN apt-get update; \
+	apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+		git jq sqlite3 npm nodejs gh ripgrep fzf python3 curl vim chromium lsof iproute2 less && \
+	apt-get clean && \
+	rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* && \
+	rm -rf /usr/share/{doc,doc-base,info,lintian,man,groff,locale,zoneinfo}/*
+
+ENV PATH="$GOPATH/bin:$PATH"
+
+# While these binaries install generally useful supporting packages,
+# the specific versions are rarely what a user wants so there is no
+# point polluting the base image module with them.
+
+RUN go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports@latest; \
+	go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest; \
+	go install mvdan.cc/gofumpt@latest; \
+	go clean -cache -testcache -modcache
+
+ENV GOTOOLCHAIN=auto
+ENV SKETCH=1
+
+RUN mkdir -p /root/.cache/sketch/webui
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dockerimg/createdockerfile.go b/dockerimg/createdockerfile.go
index ce6c671..a1ea266 100644
--- a/dockerimg/createdockerfile.go
+++ b/dockerimg/createdockerfile.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/sha256"
+	_ "embed" // Using underscore import to keep embed package for go:embed directive
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
@@ -46,46 +47,11 @@
 
 const tmpSketchDockerfile = "tmp-sketch-dockerfile"
 
-const dockerfileBase = `FROM golang:1.24-bookworm
+//go:embed Dockerfile.base
+var dockerfileBaseData []byte
 
-# Switch from dash to bash by default.
-SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-euxo", "pipefail", "-c"]
-
-# attempt to keep package installs lean
-RUN printf '%s\n' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/man/*' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/doc/*' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/doc-base/*' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/info/*' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/locale/*' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/groff/*' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/lintian/*' \
-      'path-exclude=/usr/share/zoneinfo/*' \
-    > /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/01_nodoc
-
-RUN apt-get update; \
-	apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-		git jq sqlite3 npm nodejs gh ripgrep fzf python3 curl vim chromium lsof iproute2 less && \
-	apt-get clean && \
-	rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* && \
-	rm -rf /usr/share/{doc,doc-base,info,lintian,man,groff,locale,zoneinfo}/*
-
-ENV PATH="$GOPATH/bin:$PATH"
-
-# While these binaries install generally useful supporting packages,
-# the specific versions are rarely what a user wants so there is no
-# point polluting the base image module with them.
-
-RUN go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports@latest; \
-	go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest; \
-	go install mvdan.cc/gofumpt@latest; \
-	go clean -cache -testcache -modcache
-
-ENV GOTOOLCHAIN=auto
-ENV SKETCH=1
-
-RUN mkdir -p /root/.cache/sketch/webui
-`
+// dockerfileBase is the content of the base Dockerfile
+var dockerfileBase = string(dockerfileBaseData)
 
 const dockerfileFragment = `
 ARG GIT_USER_EMAIL