diff --git a/app/build_containers.py b/app/build_containers.py
index b3b6295e..20201a7c 100644
--- a/app/build_containers.py
+++ b/app/build_containers.py
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ def command(ctx, include, exclude, force_rebuild, extra_build_args):
     # TODO: make this configurable
     container_build_env = {
         "CERC_NPM_REGISTRY_URL": get_npm_registry_url(),
+        "CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN": config("CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN", default=""),
         "CERC_NPM_AUTH_TOKEN": config("CERC_NPM_AUTH_TOKEN", default=""),
         "CERC_REPO_BASE_DIR": dev_root_path,
         "CERC_CONTAINER_BASE_DIR": container_build_dir,
diff --git a/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth-statediff/build.sh b/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth-statediff/build.sh
index f1a9ffd5..15a77ef6 100755
--- a/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth-statediff/build.sh
+++ b/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth-statediff/build.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Build cerc/plugeth-statediff
 source ${CERC_CONTAINER_BASE_DIR}/build-base.sh
-docker build -t cerc/plugeth-statediff:local ${build_command_args} ${CERC_REPO_BASE_DIR}/plugeth-statediff
+# This container build currently requires access to private dependencies in gitea
+# so we check that the necessary access token has been supplied here, then pass it o the build
+if [[ -z "${CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN}" ]]; then
+    echo "ERROR: CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN is not set" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+docker build -t cerc/plugeth-statediff:local ${build_command_args} --build-arg GIT_VDBTO_TOKEN=${CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN} ${CERC_REPO_BASE_DIR}/plugeth-statediff
diff --git a/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth/build.sh b/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth/build.sh
index 7c778877..1162a192 100755
--- a/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth/build.sh
+++ b/app/data/container-build/cerc-plugeth/build.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Build cerc/plugeth
 source ${CERC_CONTAINER_BASE_DIR}/build-base.sh
-docker build -t cerc/plugeth:local ${build_command_args} ${CERC_REPO_BASE_DIR}/plugeth
+# This container build currently requires access to private dependencies in gitea
+# so we check that the necessary access token has been supplied here, then pass it o the build
+if [[ -z "${CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN}" ]]; then
+    echo "ERROR: CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN is not set" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+docker build -t cerc/plugeth:local ${build_command_args} --build-arg GIT_VDBTO_TOKEN=${CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN} ${CERC_REPO_BASE_DIR}/plugeth
diff --git a/app/data/stacks/fixturenet-plugeth-tx/README.md b/app/data/stacks/fixturenet-plugeth-tx/README.md
index 832ed749..50bfd919 100644
--- a/app/data/stacks/fixturenet-plugeth-tx/README.md
+++ b/app/data/stacks/fixturenet-plugeth-tx/README.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ See `stacks/fixturenet-eth/README.md` for more information.
 * cerc/tx-spammer
 
 ## Deploy the stack
+Note: since some Go dependencies are currently private, `CERC_GO_AUTH_TOKEN` must be set to a valid Gitea access token before running the `build-containers` command.
 ```
 $ laconic-so --stack fixturenet-plugeth-tx setup-repositories
 $ laconic-so --stack fixturenet-plugeth-tx build-containers