diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 538f3e58f..0ee13f25d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ COPY --from=builder /usr/src/app ./
 
 RUN sed -i "/electron/d" package.json && \
     npm ci --omit=dev && \
+    node --experimental-strip-types ./bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts . --skip-prune-dev-deps && \
     npm cache clean --force && \
     rm -rf /tmp/node-compile-cache
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile.alpine b/Dockerfile.alpine
index 595d21561..943030943 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.alpine
+++ b/Dockerfile.alpine
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@ COPY --from=builder /usr/src/app ./
 
 RUN sed -i "/electron/d" package.json && \
     npm ci --omit=dev && \
+    node --experimental-strip-types ./bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts . --skip-prune-dev-deps && \
     npm cache clean --force && \
-    rm -rf /tmp/node-compile-cache
+    rm -rf \ 
+      /tmp/node-compile-cache \
+      ./bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts
 
 # Add application user
 RUN adduser -s /bin/false node; exit 0
diff --git a/bin/build-server.sh b/bin/build-server.sh
index 26dc19ad3..6677d7c19 100755
--- a/bin/build-server.sh
+++ b/bin/build-server.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ echo "Build start"
 npm run build:prepare-dist
 echo "Build finished"
 
+# pruning of unnecessary files and devDeps in node_modules
 node --experimental-strip-types $CLEANUP_SCRIPT $BUILD_DIR
 
 NODE_FILENAME=node-v${NODE_VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}
diff --git a/bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts b/bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts
index d811c95a1..bb3e90331 100644
--- a/bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts
+++ b/bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts
@@ -1,30 +1,43 @@
 import fs from "fs-extra";
 import path from "path";
+import type { Dirent } from "fs-extra";
+import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
 
 /**
  * Example usage with node >= v22:
- *    node --experimental-strip-types bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts /path/to/build/folder
+ *    node --experimental-strip-types bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts /path/to/build/folder [--skip-prune-dev-deps]
  * Example usage with tsx:
- *    tsx bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts /path/to/build/folder
+ *    tsx bin/cleanupNodeModules.ts /path/to/build/folder [--skip-prune-dev-deps]
  */
 function main() {
-    if (process.argv.length !== 3) {
-        console.error("More than one path was supplied as argument. Aborting.");
+
+    if (process.argv.length > 4 || process.argv.length < 3) {
+        console.error("Usage: cleanupNodeModules.ts [path-to-build-folder] [--skip-prune-dev-deps]");
         process.exit(1);
     }
 
     const basePath = process.argv[2];
+    const pruneDevDeps = process.argv[3] !== "--skip-prune-dev-deps";
 
     if (!fs.existsSync(basePath)) {
-        console.error(`Supplied path '${basePath}' does not exist. Aborting.`)
+        console.error(`Supplied path '${basePath}' does not exist. Aborting.`);
         process.exit(1);
     }
-    console.log(`Starting node_modules pruning in '${basePath}'...`)
-    cleanupNodeModules(basePath);
-    console.log("Successfully pruned node_modules.")
+
+    console.log(`Starting pruning of node_modules ${!pruneDevDeps ? '(skipping npm pruning)' : ''} in '${basePath}'...`);
+    cleanupNodeModules(basePath, pruneDevDeps);
+    console.log("Successfully pruned node_modules.");
 }
 
-function cleanupNodeModules(basePath: string) {
+function cleanupNodeModules(basePath: string, pruneDevDeps: boolean = true) {
+
+    // This needs to run for the server and Docker build,
+    // but needs to be skipped for electron-forge: its
+    // built-in pruning takes care of it already
+    if (pruneDevDeps) {
+        execSync(`npm ci --omit=dev --prefix ${basePath}`);
+    }
+
     const nodeModulesDirPath = path.join(basePath, "node_modules");
     const nodeModulesContent = fs.readdirSync(nodeModulesDirPath, { recursive: true, withFileTypes: true });
     //const libDir = fs.readdirSync(path.join(basePath, "./libraries"), { recursive: true, withFileTypes: true });
@@ -82,6 +95,7 @@ function cleanupNodeModules(basePath: string) {
         .forEach(dir => removeDirent(dir))
 }
 
+
 function removeDirent(el: Dirent) {
     const elementToDelete = path.join(el.parentPath, el.name);
     fs.removeSync(elementToDelete);
@@ -90,7 +104,6 @@ function removeDirent(el: Dirent) {
         console.log(`Deleted ${elementToDelete}`);
     }
 
-
 }
 
 main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bin/copy-dist.ts b/bin/copy-dist.ts
index e04edee0c..404cf0991 100644
--- a/bin/copy-dist.ts
+++ b/bin/copy-dist.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import fs from "fs-extra";
 import path from "path";
-import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
 
 const DEST_DIR = "./build";
 
@@ -59,11 +58,6 @@ try {
 
     console.log("Copying complete!")
 
-    // TriliumNextTODO: for Docker this needs to run separately *after* build-stage
-    // Disable for now, because this messes with electron-forge as well
-    //console.log("Pruning npm packages...")
-    //execSync(`npm ci --omit=dev --prefix ${DEST_DIR}`);
-
 } catch(err) {
     console.error("Error during copy:", err)
     process.exit(1)
diff --git a/forge.config.cjs b/forge.config.cjs
index 1a7e5a3c6..b94b2756e 100644
--- a/forge.config.cjs
+++ b/forge.config.cjs
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ module.exports = {
                 try {
                     const cleanupNodeModulesScript = path.join(buildPath, "bin", "cleanupNodeModules.ts");
                     // we don't have access to any devDeps like 'tsx' here, so use the built-in '--experimental-strip-types' flag instead
-                    const command = `node --experimental-strip-types ${cleanupNodeModulesScript} '${buildPath}'`;
+                    const command = `node --experimental-strip-types ${cleanupNodeModulesScript} '${buildPath}' --skip-prune-dev-deps`;
                     // execSync throws, if above returns any non-zero exit code
                     execSync(command);
                     callback()