diff --git a/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml b/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml
index c1021f0d..c5fbf189 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml
@@ -68,6 +68,13 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         backend: ${{ fromJSON(needs.setup.outputs.matrix) }}
+        variant:
+          - name: root
+            uid: "0"
+            suffix: ""
+          - name: rootless
+            uid: "10001"
+            suffix: "-rootless"
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -99,14 +106,15 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Build unified Docker image (${{ matrix.backend }})
+      - name: Build unified Docker image (${{ matrix.backend }}, ${{ matrix.variant.name }})
         env:
           LLAMA_REF: ${{ inputs.llama_cpp_ref || 'master' }}
           WHISPER_REF: ${{ inputs.whisper_ref || 'master' }}
           SD_REF: ${{ inputs.sd_ref || 'master' }}
           IK_LLAMA_REF: ${{ inputs.ik_llama_ref || 'main' }}
           LS_VERSION: ${{ inputs.llama_swap_version || 'main' }}
-          DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG: ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}
+          RUN_UID: ${{ matrix.variant.uid }}
+          DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG: ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}${{ matrix.variant.suffix }}
           # When running under act, use the local builder that has warm ccache.
           # On GitHub Actions, BUILDX_BUILDER is unset so docker uses the builder
           # created by setup-buildx-action above.
@@ -118,7 +126,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Push to GitHub Container Registry
         if: ${{ !env.ACT }}
         run: |
-          docker push ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}
+          TAG="ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}${{ matrix.variant.suffix }}"
+          docker push "${TAG}"
           DATE_TAG=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%d)
-          docker tag ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }} ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}-${DATE_TAG}
-          docker push ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}-${DATE_TAG}
+          docker tag "${TAG}" "${TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
+          docker push "${TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
diff --git a/docker/unified/Dockerfile b/docker/unified/Dockerfile
index 04e9dce0..98a39352 100644
--- a/docker/unified/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/unified/Dockerfile
@@ -145,15 +145,20 @@ ARG LLAMA_COMMIT_HASH=unknown
 ARG WHISPER_COMMIT_HASH=unknown
 ARG SD_COMMIT_HASH=unknown
 ARG IK_LLAMA_COMMIT_HASH=unknown
+ARG RUN_UID=0
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     python3-numpy python3-sentencepiece \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Create llama-swap user and config directory
-RUN useradd --system --create-home --shell /sbin/nologin llama-swap && \
+# Create non-root user when RUN_UID != 0
+RUN if [ "$RUN_UID" != "0" ]; then \
+      groupadd --system --gid $RUN_UID llama-swap && \
+      useradd --system --uid $RUN_UID --gid $RUN_UID \
+        --home /app --shell /sbin/nologin llama-swap; \
+    fi && \
     mkdir -p /etc/llama-swap/config && \
-    chown -R llama-swap:llama-swap /etc/llama-swap
+    chown -R ${RUN_UID}:${RUN_UID} /etc/llama-swap
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
@@ -191,7 +196,8 @@ RUN echo "llama.cpp: ${LLAMA_COMMIT_HASH}" > /versions.txt && \
     echo "backend: ${BACKEND}" >> /versions.txt && \
     echo "build_timestamp: $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" >> /versions.txt
 
+RUN mkdir -p /models && chown ${RUN_UID}:${RUN_UID} /models
 WORKDIR /models
-USER llama-swap
+USER ${RUN_UID}
 ENTRYPOINT ["llama-swap"]
 CMD ["-config", "/etc/llama-swap/config/config.yaml", "-listen", "0.0.0.0:8080"]
diff --git a/docker/unified/build-image.sh b/docker/unified/build-image.sh
index 22bd5649..e03cbbe7 100755
--- a/docker/unified/build-image.sh
+++ b/docker/unified/build-image.sh
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ BUILD_ARGS=(
     --build-arg "SD_COMMIT_HASH=${SD_HASH}"
     --build-arg "IK_LLAMA_COMMIT_HASH=${IK_LLAMA_HASH}"
     --build-arg "LS_VERSION=${LS_HASH}"
+    --build-arg "RUN_UID=${RUN_UID:-0}"
     -t "${DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG}"
     -f "${SCRIPT_DIR}/Dockerfile"
 )