diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index c8cedaa4..11c94cd2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ FROM debian:bookworm
 
 ARG DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
+ENV PIP_ROOT_USER_ACTION=ignore
+
 RUN \
     apt-get update \
     && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
@@ -16,9 +18,10 @@ RUN \
        default-jre-headless \
        patch \
        python3 \
-       python3-ruamel.yaml \
+       python3-pip \
        unzip \
-       xz-utils
+       xz-utils \
+    && pip install jq ruamel.yaml
 
 # Install Simplicity Commander (unfortunately no stable URL available, this
 # is known to be working with Commander_linux_x86_64_1v15p0b1306.tar.bz).
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e3aaf22a..fb96fd9a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ tool will automatically determine which SDK and toolchain to use.
 > automatically found so these flags can be omitted.
 
 ```bash
-pip install ruamel.yaml  # Only dependency
+pip install jq ruamel.yaml
 
 python tools/build_project.py \
     # The following SDK and toolchain flags can be omitted on macOS
diff --git a/tools/build_project.py b/tools/build_project.py
index 29efad21..5e355d74 100755
--- a/tools/build_project.py
+++ b/tools/build_project.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import multiprocessing
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 
+import jq
 from ruamel.yaml import YAML
 
 
@@ -374,18 +375,8 @@ def main():
     for json_config in manifest.get("json_config", []):
         json_path = build_template_path / json_config["file"]
 
-        result = subprocess.run(
-            [
-                "jq",
-                json_config["jq"],
-                json_path,
-            ],
-            capture_output=True,
-            check=True,
-        )
-
-        with open(json_path, "wb") as f:
-            f.write(result.stdout)
+        result = jq.compile(json_config["jq"]).input_text(json_path.read_text()).first()
+        json_path.write_text(json.dumps(result, indent=2))
 
     # Next, generate a chip-specific project from the modified base project
     print(f"Generating project for {manifest['device']}")