diff --git a/Dockerfile.django-alpine b/Dockerfile.django-alpine
index 9d3b401975..e895c4d1dc 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.django-alpine
+++ b/Dockerfile.django-alpine
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ COPY requirements.txt ./
 # https://github.com/unbit/uwsgi/issues/1318#issuecomment-542238096
 RUN CPUCOUNT=1 pip3 wheel --wheel-dir=/tmp/wheels -r ./requirements.txt
 
-FROM base AS django
+FROM base AS release
 WORKDIR /app
 ARG uid=1001
 ARG gid=1337
@@ -136,5 +136,11 @@ ENV \
   DD_UWSGI_NUM_OF_THREADS="2"
 ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint-uwsgi.sh"]
 
-FROM django AS django-unittests
+FROM release AS development
+USER root
+COPY requirements-dev.txt ./
+RUN pip3 install --no-cache-dir -r requirements-dev.txt
+USER ${uid}
+
+FROM development AS django-unittests
 COPY unittests/ ./unittests/
diff --git a/Dockerfile.django-debian b/Dockerfile.django-debian
index cbffc609f6..5a541b1d56 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.django-debian
+++ b/Dockerfile.django-debian
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ COPY requirements.txt ./
 # https://github.com/unbit/uwsgi/issues/1318#issuecomment-542238096
 RUN CPUCOUNT=1 pip3 wheel --wheel-dir=/tmp/wheels -r ./requirements.txt
 
-FROM base AS django
+FROM base AS release
 WORKDIR /app
 ARG uid=1001
 ARG gid=1337
@@ -139,5 +139,11 @@ ENV \
   DD_UWSGI_NUM_OF_THREADS="2"
 ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint-uwsgi.sh"]
 
-FROM django AS django-unittests
+FROM release AS development
+USER root
+COPY requirements-dev.txt ./
+RUN pip3 install --no-cache-dir -r requirements-dev.txt
+USER ${uid}
+
+FROM development AS django-unittests
 COPY unittests/ ./unittests/
diff --git a/docker-compose.override.dev.yml b/docker-compose.override.dev.yml
index 8dfa5a9e19..c57dc48f74 100644
--- a/docker-compose.override.dev.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.override.dev.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 ---
 services:
   uwsgi:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile.django-debian
+      target: development
     entrypoint: ['/wait-for-it.sh', '${DD_DATABASE_HOST:-postgres}:${DD_DATABASE_PORT:-5432}', '-t', '30', '--', '/entrypoint-uwsgi-dev.sh']
     volumes:
       - '.:/app:z'
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 727492e474..61c450f441 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ services:
     build:
       context: ./
       dockerfile: "Dockerfile.django-${DEFECT_DOJO_OS:-debian}"
-      target: django
+      target: release
     image: "defectdojo/defectdojo-django:${DJANGO_VERSION:-latest}"
     depends_on:
       initializer:
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..abf5c6c8d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Development-only dependencies for DefectDojo
+# These are only needed during development and testing
+
+# Debug toolbar for development
+django-debug-toolbar==6.0.0
+django-debug-toolbar-request-history==0.1.4
+
+# Testing dependencies
+vcrpy==7.0.0
+vcrpy-unittest==0.1.7
+django-test-migrations==1.4.0
+parameterized==0.9.0
+
+# Development file watching (hot reload)
+watchdog==6.0.0
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 350b8d03dc..5034b4689a 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -51,16 +51,11 @@ packageurl-python==0.17.5
 django-crum==0.7.9
 JSON-log-formatter==1.1.1
 django-split-settings==1.3.2
-django-debug-toolbar==5.2.0
-django-debug-toolbar-request-history==0.1.4
-vcrpy==7.0.0
-vcrpy-unittest==0.1.7
 django-tagulous==2.1.1
 PyJWT==2.10.1
 cvss==3.6
 django-fieldsignals==0.7.0
 hyperlink==21.0.0
-django-test-migrations==1.4.0
 djangosaml2==1.11.1
 drf-spectacular==0.28.0
 drf-spectacular-sidecar==2025.8.1
@@ -75,4 +70,3 @@ fontawesomefree==6.6.0
 PyYAML==6.0.2
 pyopenssl==25.1.0
 parameterized==0.9.0
-watchdog==6.0.0 # only needed for development, but would require some docker refactoring if we want to exclude it for production images