diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 77510a0..45027be 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -68,8 +68,12 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache \
 COPY --from=builder /pixad /usr/local/bin/pixad
 COPY deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh
 
-# Create non-root user, config directory, and data directory
-RUN adduser -D -H -s /sbin/nologin pixad && \
+# Create non-root user, config directory, and data directory. pixad
+# gets uid and gid 65532, which host login and system accounts do not
+# use: a bind-mounted /var/lib/pixa is given to pixad, and on the host
+# it must not belong to a person's account.
+RUN addgroup -g 65532 pixad && \
+    adduser -D -H -s /sbin/nologin -u 65532 -G pixad pixad && \
     mkdir -p /var/lib/pixa /etc/pixa && \
     chown pixad:pixad /var/lib/pixa
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 23fe41b..ec673d1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -58,8 +58,10 @@ What the [upaas](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/upaas) app for pixa needs:
   `healthy`. The probe uses the port from `PORT` (default `8080`), so a
   port changed only in a mounted config file is not seen by it: change
   the port with `PORT`.
-- **First run:** create the host directory. It may be owned by root: the
-  container gives it to its `pixad` user when it starts.
+- **First run:** create the host directory, owned by root or by uid
+  `65532` and gid `65532`. The server runs as the container's `pixad`
+  user, which has that uid and gid, and the container gives the
+  directory to `pixad` when it starts.
 
 ## Rationale
 
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index c10609b..a8ec7c3 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ exhaustion
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-09-29 fixed uid and gid for `pixad` (closes #151): the image creates the
+  `pixad` group with gid 65532 and the `pixad` user with uid 65532, instead of
+  the first free uid 1000, so a bind-mounted `/var/lib/pixa` given to `pixad`
+  is not owned on the host by a person's login account; the first-run step of
+  "Running under upaas" in `README.md` names the uid and gid.
 - 2026-09-29 `max-age` never outlives an expiring URL (closes #63): both image
   routes build `Cache-Control` from the request's `Expires`, which an encrypted
   URL's expiry now fills too; `max-age` is one year, or the whole seconds left