diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/local/django/Dockerfile b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/local/django/Dockerfile
index dd9287279..14d7a5b82 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/local/django/Dockerfile
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/local/django/Dockerfile
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
   build-essential \
   # needed to build cffi on some architectures
   libffi-dev \
+  # needed to build Pillow on some architectures
+  zlib1g-dev \
   # psycopg2 dependencies
   libpq-dev
 
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile
index 077605c2c..41d4bb840 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
   build-essential \
   # needed to build cffi on some architectures
   libffi-dev \
+  # needed to build Pillow on some architectures
+  zlib1g-dev \
   # psycopg2 dependencies
   libpq-dev