diff --git a/protocol-dashboard/Dockerfile b/protocol-dashboard/Dockerfile
index 7f81a017a12..2ec61b82dc7 100644
--- a/protocol-dashboard/Dockerfile
+++ b/protocol-dashboard/Dockerfile
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ ADD src ./src
 ADD public ./public
 ADD scripts ./scripts
 ADD types ./types
+RUN chmod +x ./scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh
 
 ENV DASHBOARD_BASE_URL="/dashboard/"
 RUN npm install --legacy-peer-deps
diff --git a/protocol-dashboard/scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh b/protocol-dashboard/scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8e215578908
--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocol-dashboard/scripts/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+FIRST_RUN_FLAG="./.firstrun"
+
+if [ ! -f "$FIRST_RUN_FLAG" ]; then
+    echo "Building dist..."
+    npm run build:$NETWORK
+
+    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "Successfully built dist"
+        touch "$FIRST_RUN_FLAG"
+    else
+        echo "'npm run build:$NETWORK' failed with exit code $?. Exiting..."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+else
+    echo "dist already built"
+fi
+
+exec npm run serve