diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 17fceec58..c750ef3bd 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ install-system:
 		nbdkit nbdkit-plugin-dev pkg-config $(QEMU_PACKAGES) qemu-utils qemu-kvm \
 		libvirt-daemon-system libvirt-clients libvirt-dev make gcc jq curl \
 		iproute2 netcat-openbsd openssh-client wget git unzip sudo xz-utils file \
-		ovn-central ovn-host openvswitch-switch
+		ovn-central ovn-host openvswitch-switch dhcpcd-base
 
 install-go:
 	@echo -e "\n....Installing Go 1.26.1 for $(ARCH) ($(GO_ARCH))...."
diff --git a/docs/source-install/README.md b/docs/source-install/README.md
index 61b0bd879..240236960 100644
--- a/docs/source-install/README.md
+++ b/docs/source-install/README.md
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ This guide builds Spinifex from source. For production deployments, the [binary
 - Ubuntu 22.04+ / Debian 12+
 - Go 1.26.1+
 - GCC, make, pkg-config
-- QEMU/KVM, OVN/Open vSwitch, AWS CLI v2
+- QEMU/KVM, OVN/Open vSwitch, AWS CLI v2, dhcpcd-base
 
 ## Instructions
 
diff --git a/scripts/setup.sh b/scripts/setup.sh
index 0d0c5f9b0..ac3106524 100755
--- a/scripts/setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup.sh
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ install_apt_deps() {
         $QEMU_PACKAGES qemu-utils qemu-kvm \
         libvirt-daemon-system libvirt-clients \
         jq curl iproute2 netcat-openbsd wget unzip xz-utils file \
-        ovn-central ovn-host openvswitch-switch \
+        ovn-central ovn-host openvswitch-switch dhcpcd-base \
         > /dev/null
 
     info "System dependencies installed"