diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index dfb6cadd9..27ab9dfc1 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,153 +1,158 @@
 # This file is part of Invenio.
 # Copyright (C) 2015 CERN.
 #
 # Invenio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 # modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
 # published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
 # License, or (at your option) any later version.
 #
 # Invenio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 # WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 # General Public License for more details.
 #
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with Invenio; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 # 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
 
 ###############################################################################
 ## 1. Base (stable)                                                          ##
 ###############################################################################
 
 FROM python:2.7-slim
 MAINTAINER CERN <info@invenio-software.org>
 
+# expose the right port
+EXPOSE 28080
+
+# add invenio user
+RUN useradd --home-dir /home/invenio --create-home --shell /bin/bash --uid 1000 invenio
+
+# set work dir
+WORKDIR /code
+
 # nodejs repo
 # detects distribution and adds the right repo
 # See: https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Installing-Node.js-via-package-manager#debian-and-ubuntu-based-linux-distributions
 RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get -qy install --fix-missing --no-install-recommends \
         curl \
         && \
     curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_iojs_2.x | bash -
 
-# install requirements from repos
-# also clean up apt
+#  - package cache updates
+#  - install requirements from repos
+#  - clean up
+#  - install python requirements
+#  - install nodejs requirements
 RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get -qy upgrade --fix-missing --no-install-recommends && \
     apt-get -qy install --fix-missing --no-install-recommends \
         gcc \
         git \
         iojs \
         libffi-dev \
         liblzma-dev \
         libmysqlclient-dev \
         libssl-dev \
         libxslt-dev \
         mysql-client \
         poppler-utils \
         sudo \
         && \
     apt-get clean autoclean && \
     apt-get autoremove -y && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/{apt,dpkg}/ && \
     (find /usr/share/doc -depth -type f ! -name copyright -delete || true) && \
     (find /usr/share/doc -empty -delete || true) && \
-    rm -rf /usr/share/man/* /usr/share/groff/* /usr/share/info/*
-
-# install python requirements
-RUN pip install --upgrade pip && \
+    rm -rf /usr/share/man/* /usr/share/groff/* /usr/share/info/* && \
+    pip install --upgrade pip && \
     pip install ipdb \
         ipython \
         mock \
         unittest2 \
-        watchdog
-
-# install nodejs requirements
-RUN npm update && \
+        watchdog \
+        && \
+    npm update && \
     npm install --silent -g bower less clean-css uglify-js requirejs
 
-# add invenio user
-RUN useradd --home-dir /home/invenio --create-home --shell /bin/bash --uid 1000 invenio
-
 
 ###############################################################################
 ## 2. Requirements (semi-stable)                                             ##
 ###############################################################################
 
-# select proper requierments level
+# global environment variables:
+#  - docker specific paths for Invenio
+#  - proper requirements level
+#  - Python extras
+ENV INVENIOBASE_INSTANCE_PATH="/home/invenio/instance" \
+    INVENIOBASE_STATIC_FOLDER="/home/invenio/static" \
+    REQUIREMENTS="devel" \
+    REXTRAS="development,docs"
 #ENV REQUIREMENTS lowest
 #ENV REQUIREMENTS release
-ENV REQUIREMENTS devel
-ENV REXTRAS development,docs
 
 # add requirement files
 COPY ./requirements-devel.txt ./requirements.py ./setup.cfg ./setup.py /code/
 COPY ./invenio/version.py /code/invenio/version.py
-WORKDIR /code
 
 # install python requirements
 # the different levels get composed from different sources
 # higher levels include all requirements of lower levels
+# NOTE: the compilation step is not that important, because it also compiles some tests
+#       for modules that contain syntax errors on purpose (e.g. flask-registry)
 RUN python requirements.py --extras=$REXTRAS --level=min > requirements.py.lowest.txt && \
     python requirements.py --extras=$REXTRAS --level=pypi > requirements.py.release.txt && \
     python requirements.py --extras=$REXTRAS --level=dev > requirements.py.devel.txt && \
     pip install --requirement requirements.py.$REQUIREMENTS.txt --allow-all-external && \
-    python -O -m compileall
+    (python -O -m compileall || true)
 
 
 ###############################################################################
 ## 3. Code (changing)                                                        ##
 ###############################################################################
 
 # add current directory as `/code`.
 COPY . /code
 
 
 ###############################################################################
 ## 4. Build (changing)                                                       ##
 ###############################################################################
 
-# install invenio
+#  - install invenio
+#  - update Python bytecode
+#  - build translation catalog
+#  - clean up
 RUN pip install --editable .[$REXTRAS] && \
-    python -O -m compileall .
-
-# build translation catalog
-RUN python setup.py compile_catalog
-
-# clean up
-RUN rm -rf /tmp/* /var/tmp/* /var/lib/{cache,log}/ /root/.cache/*
+    (python -O -m compileall . || true) && \
+    python setup.py compile_catalog && \
+    rm -rf /tmp/* /var/tmp/* /var/lib/{cache,log}/ /root/.cache/*
 
 
 ###############################################################################
 ## 5. Final Steps (changing)                                                 ##
 ###############################################################################
 
 # step back
 # in general code should not be writeable, especially because we are using
 # `pip install -e`
 RUN mkdir -p /code/src && \
     chown -R invenio:invenio /code && \
     chown -R root:root /code/invenio && \
     chown -R root:root /code/scripts && \
     chown -R root:root /code/setup.* && \
     chown -R root:root /code/src
 USER invenio
 
 # add volumes
 # do this AFTER `chown`, because otherwise directory permissions are not
 # preserved
-VOLUME /code
-VOLUME /home/invenio
-VOLUME /tmp
-
-# global environment variables
-ENV INVENIOBASE_INSTANCE_PATH /home/invenio/instance
-ENV INVENIOBASE_STATIC_FOLDER /home/invenio/static
+VOLUME ["/code", "/home/invenio", "/tmp"]
 
 # install init scripts
 ENTRYPOINT ["/code/scripts/docker_boot.sh"]
 
 # default to bash
 CMD ["bash"]