diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 864b3f1c..2730b507 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cargo/git \
     --mount=type=cache,target=/app/target \
     set -eux; \
     \
+    [ -e payments-contracts/src/contracts/mod.rs ] || touch payments-contracts/build.rs; \
     cargo --locked --verbose fetch
 
 # build tests (done its in own FROM so that it can run in parallel)
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cargo/git \
     --mount=type=cache,target=/app/target \
     set -eux; \
     \
+    [ -e payments-contracts/src/contracts/mod.rs ] || touch payments-contracts/build.rs; \
     RUST_LOG=web3_proxy=trace,info \
     cargo \
     --frozen \
@@ -106,6 +108,7 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cargo/git \
     --mount=type=cache,target=/app/target \
     set -eux; \
     \
+    [ -e payments-contracts/src/contracts/mod.rs ] || touch payments-contracts/build.rs; \
     cargo install \
     --features "$WEB3_PROXY_FEATURES" \
     --frozen \