diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 8a5b7ae9bbee..c7cc7d6d1c81 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@ ARG NODE_ENV
 ENV NODE_ENV $NODE_ENV
 
 COPY --chown=node:node install/package.json /usr/src/app/package.json
+COPY --chown=node:node install/launch.sh /usr/src/app/launch.sh
 
 USER node
 
 RUN npm install --only=prod && \
-    npm cache clean --force
+    npm cache clean --force && \
+    touch active_modules
 
 COPY --chown=node:node . /usr/src/app
 
@@ -22,4 +24,4 @@ ENV NODE_ENV=production \
 
 EXPOSE 4567
 
-CMD test -n "${SETUP}" && ./nodebb setup || node ./nodebb build; node ./nodebb start
+CMD ./launch.sh
diff --git a/install/launch.sh b/install/launch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..26fe8cd6c067
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install/launch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+echo "# [Optional] Install "
+if test -n "${SETUP}"
+then
+  ./nodebb setup
+fi
+
+echo "# Checking required modules from ./active_modules"
+while read -r module; do
+  echo "Installing module $module"
+  npm install "$module"
+  ./nodebb activate $module
+done < ./active_modules
+
+echo "# Building nodebb"
+node ./nodebb build
+
+echo "# Launching application"
+./nodebb start