diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index 3661d69..723d1aa 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ WORKDIR /app
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     gcc \
     postgresql-client \
+    curl \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Copy requirements first (for layer caching)
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ EXPOSE 8000
 
 # Health check
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
-    CMD python -c "import requests; requests.get('http://localhost:8000/health')" || exit 1
+    CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1
 
 # Run application
 CMD ["uvicorn", "src.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]