diff --git a/.changeset/fresh-panthers-arrive.md b/.changeset/fresh-panthers-arrive.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7ffba2109f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fresh-panthers-arrive.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+'@backstage/create-app': patch
+---
+
+Tweaked the `.dockerignore` file so that it's easier to add additional backend packages if desired.
+
+To apply this change to an existing app, make the following change to `.dockerignore`:
+
+```diff
+ cypress
+ microsite
+ node_modules
+-packages
+-!packages/backend/dist
++packages/*/src
++packages/*/node_modules
+ plugins
+```
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index e34ae2c37d..45f9f52059 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@ docs
 cypress
 microsite
 node_modules
-packages
-!packages/backend/dist
+packages/*/src
+packages/*/node_modules
 plugins
diff --git a/docs/deployment/docker.md b/docs/deployment/docker.md
index 01bc6279f2..6471ada7f2 100644
--- a/docs/deployment/docker.md
+++ b/docs/deployment/docker.md
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ root of the repo to speed up the build by reducing build context size:
 ```text
 .git
 node_modules
-packages
-!packages/backend/dist
+packages/*/src
+packages/*/node_modules
 plugins
 ```
 
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/.dockerignore b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/.dockerignore
index 5c3b1360e0..505a7b54fa 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/.dockerignore
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/.dockerignore
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 .git
 node_modules
-packages
-!packages/backend/dist
+packages/*/src
+packages/*/node_modules
 plugins
 *.local.yaml