diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 56bbc3d5f1a30..661846d3549ca 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -13,8 +13,13 @@ ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.12
 # private registries that use a different repository naming conventions.
 #
 # Example:
-# docker build --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=registry.acme.org/mirror/nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu22.04
-ARG BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu22.04
+# docker build --build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=registry.acme.org/mirror/nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu20.04
+
+# Important: We build with an old version of Ubuntu to maintain broad 
+# compatibility with other Linux OSes. The main reason for this is that the
+# glibc version is baked into the distro, and binaries built with one glibc
+# version are not backwards compatible with OSes that use an earlier version.
+ARG BUILD_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu20.04
 # TODO: Restore to base image after FlashInfer AOT wheel fixed
 ARG FINAL_BASE_IMAGE=nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu22.04
 
@@ -75,34 +80,19 @@ ARG TARGETPLATFORM
 ARG INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=false
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
-ARG DEADSNAKES_MIRROR_URL
-ARG DEADSNAKES_GPGKEY_URL
 ARG GET_PIP_URL
 
-# Install Python and other dependencies
+# Install system dependencies and uv, then create Python virtual environment
 RUN echo 'tzdata tzdata/Areas select America' | debconf-set-selections \
     && echo 'tzdata tzdata/Zones/America select Los_Angeles' | debconf-set-selections \
     && apt-get update -y \
-    && apt-get install -y ccache software-properties-common git curl sudo \
-    && if [ ! -z ${DEADSNAKES_MIRROR_URL} ] ; then \
-        if [ ! -z "${DEADSNAKES_GPGKEY_URL}" ] ; then \
-            mkdir -p -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings ; \
-            curl -L ${DEADSNAKES_GPGKEY_URL} | gpg --dearmor > /etc/apt/keyrings/deadsnakes.gpg ; \
-            sudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/keyrings/deadsnakes.gpg ; \
-            echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/deadsnakes.gpg] ${DEADSNAKES_MIRROR_URL} $(lsb_release -cs) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deadsnakes.list ; \
-        fi ; \
-    else \
-        for i in 1 2 3; do \
-            add-apt-repository -y ppa:deadsnakes/ppa && break || \
-            { echo "Attempt $i failed, retrying in 5s..."; sleep 5; }; \
-        done ; \
-    fi \
-    && apt-get update -y \
-    && apt-get install -y python${PYTHON_VERSION} python${PYTHON_VERSION}-dev python${PYTHON_VERSION}-venv \
-    && update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python${PYTHON_VERSION} 1 \
-    && update-alternatives --set python3 /usr/bin/python${PYTHON_VERSION} \
-    && ln -sf /usr/bin/python${PYTHON_VERSION}-config /usr/bin/python3-config \
-    && curl -sS ${GET_PIP_URL} | python${PYTHON_VERSION} \
+    && apt-get install -y ccache software-properties-common git curl sudo python3-pip \
+    && curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh \
+    && $HOME/.local/bin/uv venv /opt/venv --python ${PYTHON_VERSION} \
+    && rm -f /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python3-config /usr/bin/pip \
+    && ln -s /opt/venv/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python3 \
+    && ln -s /opt/venv/bin/python3-config /usr/bin/python3-config \
+    && ln -s /opt/venv/bin/pip /usr/bin/pip \
     && python3 --version && python3 -m pip --version
 
 ARG PIP_INDEX_URL UV_INDEX_URL
@@ -111,9 +101,9 @@ ARG PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL
 ARG PYTORCH_CUDA_NIGHTLY_INDEX_BASE_URL
 ARG PIP_KEYRING_PROVIDER UV_KEYRING_PROVIDER
 
-# Install uv for faster pip installs
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
-    python3 -m pip install uv
+# Activate virtual environment and add uv to PATH
+ENV PATH="/opt/venv/bin:/root/.local/bin:$PATH"
+ENV VIRTUAL_ENV="/opt/venv"
 
 # This timeout (in seconds) is necessary when installing some dependencies via uv since it's likely to time out
 # Reference: https://github.com/astral-sh/uv/pull/1694
@@ -142,7 +132,7 @@ WORKDIR /workspace
 COPY requirements/common.txt requirements/common.txt
 COPY requirements/cuda.txt requirements/cuda.txt
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
-    uv pip install --system -r requirements/cuda.txt \
+    uv pip install --python /opt/venv/bin/python3 -r requirements/cuda.txt \
     --extra-index-url ${PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL}/cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d '.')
 
 # cuda arch list used by torch
@@ -172,7 +162,7 @@ ENV UV_INDEX_STRATEGY="unsafe-best-match"
 ENV UV_LINK_MODE=copy
 
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
-    uv pip install --system -r requirements/build.txt \
+    uv pip install --python /opt/venv/bin/python3 -r requirements/build.txt \
     --extra-index-url ${PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL}/cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d '.')
 
 COPY . .
@@ -269,7 +259,7 @@ COPY requirements/lint.txt requirements/lint.txt
 COPY requirements/test.txt requirements/test.txt
 COPY requirements/dev.txt requirements/dev.txt
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
-    uv pip install --system -r requirements/dev.txt \
+    uv pip install --python /opt/venv/bin/python3 -r requirements/dev.txt \
     --extra-index-url ${PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL}/cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d '.')
 #################### DEV IMAGE ####################
 
diff --git a/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png b/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png
index db3452650c367..0838bfa37fe62 100644
Binary files a/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png and b/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png differ