diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index be7a201ca77..961747522cb 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ ARG ETHERPAD_GITHUB_PLUGINS=
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./src/ ./src/
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad --from=adminbuild /opt/etherpad-lite/src/templates/admin ./src/templates/admin
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad --from=adminbuild /opt/etherpad-lite/src/static/oidc ./src/static/oidc
+RUN mkdir -p ./src/plugin_packages
 
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./local_plugin[s] ./local_plugins/
 
@@ -203,6 +204,7 @@ RUN printf 'packages:\n  - src\n  - bin\nonlyBuiltDependencies:\n  - esbuild\nig
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./src ./src
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad --from=adminbuild /opt/etherpad-lite/src/templates/admin ./src/templates/admin
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad --from=adminbuild /opt/etherpad-lite/src/static/oidc ./src/static/oidc
+RUN mkdir -p ./src/plugin_packages
 
 COPY --chown=etherpad:etherpad ./local_plugin[s] ./local_plugins/
 
diff --git a/src/tests/backend/specs/dockerfilePluginVolume.ts b/src/tests/backend/specs/dockerfilePluginVolume.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4226d370ae0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/backend/specs/dockerfilePluginVolume.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// Regression test for ether/etherpad#8026.
+//
+// docker-compose.yml mounts a named volume over src/plugin_packages while the
+// app runs as UID 5001. Docker initializes a fresh named volume from the image's
+// mountpoint metadata, so the runtime image must provide that directory owned by
+// the etherpad user. If the directory is absent, Docker creates it as root:root
+// and plugin installs fail when install.lock is created.
+
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+const repoRoot = path.join(__dirname, '../../../../');
+const readRepoFile = (rel: string) => fs.readFileSync(path.join(repoRoot, rel), 'utf8');
+
+const getStage = (dockerfile: string, stageName: string): string => {
+  const stageStart = new RegExp(`^FROM\\s+\\S+\\s+AS\\s+${stageName}\\b`, 'm').exec(dockerfile);
+  assert.ok(stageStart, `Dockerfile must define a ${stageName} stage`);
+
+  const rest = dockerfile.slice(stageStart.index);
+  const nextStage = /^FROM\s+/m.exec(rest.slice(stageStart[0].length));
+
+  if (nextStage == null) return rest;
+
+  return rest.slice(0, stageStart[0].length + nextStage.index);
+};
+
+const findInstruction = (
+  stage: string,
+  pattern: RegExp,
+  description: string,
+): RegExpExecArray => {
+  const match = pattern.exec(stage);
+  assert.ok(match, description);
+  return match;
+};
+
+describe(__filename, function () {
+  describe('Docker plugin package volume mountpoint (issue #8026)', function () {
+    let dockerfile: string;
+
+    before(function () {
+      dockerfile = readRepoFile('Dockerfile');
+    });
+
+    for (const stageName of ['development', 'production']) {
+      it(`creates src/plugin_packages in the ${stageName} runtime stage`, function () {
+        const stage = getStage(dockerfile, stageName);
+        const srcCopy = findInstruction(
+          stage,
+          /^COPY\s+--chown=etherpad:etherpad\s+\.\/src\/?\s+\.\/src\/?\s*$/m,
+          `Dockerfile ${stageName} stage must copy ./src before preparing plugin_packages`,
+        );
+        const pluginPackagesDir = findInstruction(
+          stage,
+          /^RUN\s+.*\b(?:mkdir\s+-p|install\s+-d)(?:\s+\S+)*\s+\.\/src\/plugin_packages\b.*$/m,
+          `Dockerfile ${stageName} stage must create ./src/plugin_packages so a fresh ` +
+            'Docker named volume is initialized writable by the etherpad user',
+        );
+
+        assert.ok(
+          pluginPackagesDir.index > srcCopy.index,
+          `Dockerfile ${stageName} stage must create ./src/plugin_packages after copying ./src`,
+        );
+      });
+    }
+  });
+});