diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 0d3c983..e02a379 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# Build outputs / generated files
+# Build outputs / generated files. core/c-src/bindings.c is NOT excluded: it is
+# the committed projection this image compiles, not something the image produces.
 node_modules/
 wasm/
-core/c-src/bindings.c
 dist/
 coverage/
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 72616c4..b584255 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -167,13 +167,13 @@ COPY --from=mobilitydb_src /root/MobilityDB      /root/MobilityDB
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-# Install node deps first (cached unless package.json or lock change)
-COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
-RUN npm ci --ignore-scripts
-
-# Now copy the rest and generate bindings
+# The wrappers are taken from the tree rather than regenerated here. They are a
+# projection of the MEOS-API catalog, and the catalog is derived from MobilityDB
+# rather than committed, so an image that regenerates needs a catalog the tree
+# does not carry. Compiling the committed wrappers also makes this build answer
+# the question that matters to a consumer of the published package, who compiles
+# exactly these: that they still build against the MEOS they are linked to.
 COPY . .
-RUN npm run generate
 
 # CMAKE: configure MobilityDB
 RUN INCLUDES="-I/root/geos/include -I/root/geos/build/capi -I/root/json-c-install/include -I/root/json-c-install/include/json-c" \