diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/build/build_webapp.py b/stack_orchestrator/build/build_webapp.py
index 287347eb..a9124590 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/build/build_webapp.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/build/build_webapp.py
@@ -25,10 +25,11 @@ from decouple import config
 import click
 from pathlib import Path
 from stack_orchestrator.build import build_containers
+from stack_orchestrator.deploy.webapp.util import determine_base_container
 
 
 @click.command()
-@click.option('--base-container', default="cerc/nextjs-base")
+@click.option('--base-container')
 @click.option('--source-repo', help="directory containing the webapp to build", required=True)
 @click.option("--force-rebuild", is_flag=True, default=False, help="Override dependency checking -- always rebuild")
 @click.option("--extra-build-args", help="Supply extra arguments to build")
@@ -57,6 +58,9 @@ def command(ctx, base_container, source_repo, force_rebuild, extra_build_args, t
     if not quiet:
         print(f'Dev Root is: {dev_root_path}')
 
+    if not base_container:
+        base_container = determine_base_container(source_repo)
+
     # First build the base container.
     container_build_env = build_containers.make_container_build_env(dev_root_path, container_build_dir, debug,
                                                                     force_rebuild, extra_build_args)
@@ -64,13 +68,12 @@ def command(ctx, base_container, source_repo, force_rebuild, extra_build_args, t
     build_containers.process_container(None, base_container, container_build_dir, container_build_env, dev_root_path, quiet,
                                        verbose, dry_run, continue_on_error)
 
-
     # Now build the target webapp.  We use the same build script, but with a different Dockerfile and work dir.
     container_build_env["CERC_WEBAPP_BUILD_RUNNING"] = "true"
     container_build_env["CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_WORK_DIR"] = os.path.abspath(source_repo)
     container_build_env["CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_DOCKERFILE"] = os.path.join(container_build_dir,
-                                                                    base_container.replace("/", "-"),
-                                                                    "Dockerfile.webapp")
+                                                                          base_container.replace("/", "-"),
+                                                                          "Dockerfile.webapp")
     if not tag:
         webapp_name = os.path.abspath(source_repo).split(os.path.sep)[-1]
         container_build_env["CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_TAG"] = f"cerc/{webapp_name}:local"
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/Dockerfile b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/Dockerfile
index c3c12cc6..5f9548ee 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/Dockerfile
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/Dockerfile
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
 # RUN su node -c "npm install -g <your-package-list-here>"
 
 # Expose port for http
-EXPOSE 3000
+EXPOSE 80
 
 COPY /scripts /scripts
 
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/scripts/start-serving-app.sh b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/scripts/start-serving-app.sh
index 3692f2f6..bd254572 100755
--- a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/scripts/start-serving-app.sh
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-nextjs-base/scripts/start-serving-app.sh
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ if [ "$CERC_NEXTJS_SKIP_GENERATE" != "true" ]; then
   fi
 fi
 
-$CERC_BUILD_TOOL start . -p ${CERC_LISTEN_PORT:-3000}
+$CERC_BUILD_TOOL start . -- -p ${CERC_LISTEN_PORT:-80}
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/Dockerfile b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/Dockerfile
index 275a5c3c..331e04a1 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/Dockerfile
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Originally from: https://github.com/devcontainers/images/blob/main/src/javascript-node/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
 # [Choice] Node.js version (use -bullseye variants on local arm64/Apple Silicon): 18, 16, 14, 18-bullseye, 16-bullseye, 14-bullseye, 18-buster, 16-buster, 14-buster
-ARG VARIANT=18-bullseye
+ARG VARIANT=20-bullseye
 FROM node:${VARIANT}
 
 ARG USERNAME=node
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ RUN \
 
 # [Optional] Uncomment this section to install additional OS packages.
 RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
-    && apt-get -y install --no-install-recommends jq
+    && apt-get -y install --no-install-recommends jq gettext-base
 
 # [Optional] Uncomment if you want to install an additional version of node using nvm
 # ARG EXTRA_NODE_VERSION=10
@@ -37,9 +37,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
 # We do this to get a yq binary from the published container, for the correct architecture we're building here
 COPY --from=docker.io/mikefarah/yq:latest /usr/bin/yq /usr/local/bin/yq
 
-RUN mkdir -p /scripts
-COPY ./apply-webapp-config.sh /scripts
-COPY ./start-serving-app.sh /scripts
+COPY scripts /scripts
 
 # [Optional] Uncomment if you want to install more global node modules
 # RUN su node -c "npm install -g <your-package-list-here>"
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/Dockerfile.webapp b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/Dockerfile.webapp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..711eff25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/Dockerfile.webapp
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+FROM cerc/webapp-base:local as builder
+
+ARG CERC_BUILD_TOOL
+
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY . .
+RUN rm -rf node_modules build .next*
+RUN /scripts/build-app.sh /app build /data
+
+FROM cerc/webapp-base:local
+COPY --from=builder /data /data
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/build.sh b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/build.sh
index 51712dc4..12b25e5e 100755
--- a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/build.sh
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/build.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,29 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Build cerc/laconic-registry-cli
+# Build cerc/webapp-base
 
 source ${CERC_CONTAINER_BASE_DIR}/build-base.sh
 
 # See: https://stackoverflow.com/a/246128/1701505
 SCRIPT_DIR=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
 
-docker build -t cerc/webapp-base:local ${build_command_args} -f ${SCRIPT_DIR}/Dockerfile ${SCRIPT_DIR}
+CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_WORK_DIR=${CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_WORK_DIR:-$SCRIPT_DIR}
+CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_DOCKERFILE=${CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_DOCKERFILE:-$SCRIPT_DIR/Dockerfile}
+CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_TAG=${CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_TAG:-cerc/webapp-base:local}
+
+docker build -t $CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_TAG ${build_command_args} -f $CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_DOCKERFILE $CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_WORK_DIR
+
+if [ $? -eq 0 ] && [ "$CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_TAG" != "cerc/webapp-base:local" ]; then
+  cat <<EOF
+
+#################################################################
+
+Built host container for $CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_WORK_DIR with tag:
+
+    $CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_TAG
+
+To test locally run:
+
+    laconic-so run-webapp --image $CERC_CONTAINER_BUILD_TAG --env-file /path/to/environment.env
+
+EOF
+fi
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/apply-runtime-env.sh b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/apply-runtime-env.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d3ea1d34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/apply-runtime-env.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [ -n "$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG" ]; then
+    set -x
+fi
+
+WORK_DIR="${1:-./}"
+
+cd "${WORK_DIR}" || exit 1
+
+if [ -f ".env" ]; then
+  TMP_ENV=`mktemp`
+  declare -px > $TMP_ENV
+  set -a
+  source .env
+  source $TMP_ENV
+  set +a
+  rm -f $TMP_ENV
+fi
+
+for f in $(find . -regex ".*.[tj]sx?$" -type f | grep -v 'node_modules'); do
+  for e in $(cat "${f}" | tr -s '[:blank:]' '\n' | tr -s '[{},();]' '\n' | egrep -o -e '^"CERC_RUNTIME_ENV_[^\"]+"' -e '^"LACONIC_HOSTED_CONFIG_[^\"]+"'); do
+    orig_name=$(echo -n "${e}" | sed 's/"//g')
+    cur_name=$(echo -n "${orig_name}" | sed 's/CERC_RUNTIME_ENV_//g')
+    cur_val=$(echo -n "\$${cur_name}" | envsubst)
+    if [ "$CERC_RETAIN_ENV_QUOTES" != "true" ]; then
+      cur_val=$(sed "s/^[\"']//" <<< "$cur_val" | sed "s/[\"']//")
+    fi
+    esc_val=$(sed 's/[&/\]/\\&/g' <<< "$cur_val")
+    echo "$f: $cur_name=$cur_val"
+    sed -i "s/$orig_name/$esc_val/g" $f
+  done
+done
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/apply-webapp-config.sh b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/apply-webapp-config.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/apply-webapp-config.sh
rename to stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/apply-webapp-config.sh
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/build-app.sh b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/build-app.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c102a054
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/build-app.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+SCRIPT_DIR=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
+
+if [ -n "$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG" ]; then
+    set -x
+fi
+
+CERC_BUILD_TOOL="${CERC_BUILD_TOOL}"
+WORK_DIR="${1:-/app}"
+OUTPUT_DIR="${2:-build}"
+DEST_DIR="${3:-/data}"
+
+if [ -f "${WORK_DIR}/package.json" ]; then
+  echo "Building node-based webapp ..."
+  cd "${WORK_DIR}" || exit 1
+
+  if [ -z "$CERC_BUILD_TOOL" ]; then
+    if [ -f "yarn.lock" ]; then
+      CERC_BUILD_TOOL=yarn
+    else
+      CERC_BUILD_TOOL=npm
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  $CERC_BUILD_TOOL install || exit 1
+  $CERC_BUILD_TOOL build || exit 1
+
+  rm -rf "${DEST_DIR}"
+  mv "${WORK_DIR}/${OUTPUT_DIR}" "${DEST_DIR}"
+else
+  echo "Copying static app ..."
+  mv "${WORK_DIR}" "${DEST_DIR}"
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/start-serving-app.sh b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/start-serving-app.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..365d05fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/scripts/start-serving-app.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+if [ -n "$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG" ]; then
+    set -x
+fi
+
+CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR="${CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR:-/data}"
+CERC_ENABLE_CORS="${CERC_ENABLE_CORS:-false}"
+
+if [ "true" == "$CERC_ENABLE_CORS" ]; then
+  CERC_HTTP_EXTRA_ARGS="$CERC_HTTP_EXTRA_ARGS --cors"
+fi
+
+/scripts/apply-webapp-config.sh /config/config.yml ${CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR}
+/scripts/apply-runtime-env.sh ${CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR}
+http-server $CERC_HTTP_EXTRA_ARGS -p ${CERC_LISTEN_PORT:-80} ${CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR}
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/start-serving-app.sh b/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/start-serving-app.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 69fa6c22..00000000
--- a/stack_orchestrator/data/container-build/cerc-webapp-base/start-serving-app.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-if [ -n "$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG" ]; then
-    set -x
-fi
-
-CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR="${CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR:-/data}"
-
-/scripts/apply-webapp-config.sh /config/config.yml ${CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR}
-http-server -p 80 ${CERC_WEBAPP_FILES_DIR}
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/run_webapp.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/run_webapp.py
index 4dbf234a..f780c6f8 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/run_webapp.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/run_webapp.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from dotenv import dotenv_values
 from stack_orchestrator import constants
 from stack_orchestrator.deploy.deployer_factory import getDeployer
 
-WEBAPP_PORT = 3000
+WEBAPP_PORT = 80
 
 
 @click.command()
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/util.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/util.py
index ef98117b..50485110 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/util.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/webapp/util.py
@@ -195,6 +195,23 @@ def file_hash(filename):
     return hashlib.sha1(open(filename).read().encode()).hexdigest()
 
 
+def determine_base_container(clone_dir, app_type="webapp"):
+    if not app_type or not app_type.startswith("webapp"):
+        raise Exception(f"Unsupported app_type {app_type}")
+
+    base_container = "cerc/webapp-base"
+    if app_type == "webapp/next":
+        base_container = "cerc/nextjs-base"
+    elif app_type == "webapp":
+        pkg_json_path = os.path.join(clone_dir, "package.json")
+        if os.path.exists(pkg_json_path):
+            pkg_json = json.load(open(pkg_json_path))
+            if "next" in pkg_json.get("dependencies", {}):
+                base_container = "cerc/nextjs-base"
+
+    return base_container
+
+
 def build_container_image(app_record, tag, extra_build_args=[]):
     tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
 
@@ -216,8 +233,15 @@ def build_container_image(app_record, tag, extra_build_args=[]):
             result = subprocess.run(["git", "clone", "--depth", "1", repo, clone_dir])
             result.check_returncode()
 
+        base_container = determine_base_container(clone_dir, app_record.attributes.app_type)
+
         print("Building webapp ...")
-        build_command = [sys.argv[0], "build-webapp", "--source-repo", clone_dir, "--tag", tag]
+        build_command = [
+            sys.argv[0], "build-webapp",
+            "--source-repo", clone_dir,
+            "--tag", tag,
+            "--base-container", base_container
+        ]
         if extra_build_args:
             build_command.append("--extra-build-args")
             build_command.append(" ".join(extra_build_args))
diff --git a/tests/webapp-test/run-webapp-test.sh b/tests/webapp-test/run-webapp-test.sh
index 5db382f8..8cae4828 100755
--- a/tests/webapp-test/run-webapp-test.sh
+++ b/tests/webapp-test/run-webapp-test.sh
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@ CHECK="SPECIAL_01234567890_TEST_STRING"
 
 set +e
 
-CONTAINER_ID=$(docker run -p 3000:3000 -d -e CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG=$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG cerc/test-progressive-web-app:local)
+CONTAINER_ID=$(docker run -p 3000:80 -d -e CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG=$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG cerc/test-progressive-web-app:local)
 sleep 3
 wget -t 7 -O test.before -m http://localhost:3000
 
 docker logs $CONTAINER_ID
 docker remove -f $CONTAINER_ID
 
-CONTAINER_ID=$(docker run -p 3000:3000 -e CERC_WEBAPP_DEBUG=$CHECK -e CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG=$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG -d cerc/test-progressive-web-app:local)
+CONTAINER_ID=$(docker run -p 3000:80 -e CERC_WEBAPP_DEBUG=$CHECK -e CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG=$CERC_SCRIPT_DEBUG -d cerc/test-progressive-web-app:local)
 sleep 3
 wget -t 7 -O test.after -m http://localhost:3000