diff --git a/Containerfile b/Containerfile
index 0539f24..3881091 100644
--- a/Containerfile
+++ b/Containerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/python-39
+FROM registry.fedoraproject.org/fedora:41
 
 USER root
 
+RUN dnf update -y && dnf install -y python3-pip git make diffutils && dnf clean all
+
 ENV GO_VERSION=1.23.2
 RUN curl -Ls https://golang.org/dl/go${GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz | \
     tar -C /usr/local -zxvf -
@@ -13,8 +15,5 @@ RUN python -m pip install .
 
 WORKDIR /working
 RUN rm -rf /src
-RUN chown default .
-RUN chmod 0777 .
 
-USER default
-ENTRYPOINT [ "/opt/app-root/bin/merge-bot" ]
+ENTRYPOINT [ "/usr/local/bin/merge-bot" ]
diff --git a/src/merge_bot/cli.py b/src/merge_bot/cli.py
index 5c3a1a9..ac617e1 100755
--- a/src/merge_bot/cli.py
+++ b/src/merge_bot/cli.py
@@ -168,6 +168,13 @@ def parse_cli_arguments(testing_args=None):
         required=False,
         help="When enabled, the bot will update and vendor the go modules in a separate commit",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--run-make",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        required=False,
+        help="When enabled, the bot will run `make merge-bot` and submit any change in a separate commit",
+    )
 
     if testing_args is not None:
         args = parser.parse_args(testing_args)
diff --git a/src/merge_bot/merge_bot.py b/src/merge_bot/merge_bot.py
index 6e9048e..e8741b9 100755
--- a/src/merge_bot/merge_bot.py
+++ b/src/merge_bot/merge_bot.py
@@ -53,6 +53,14 @@ class RepoException(Exception):
     pass
 
 
+class MakeException(Exception):
+    """An non-fatal error when running make merge-bot, the PR will be sent but
+    the user should be informed that the make failed, has to manually run
+    the command and fix the issue."""
+
+    pass
+
+
 def check_conflict(repo):
     unmerged_blobs = repo.index.unmerged_blobs()
 
@@ -158,6 +166,41 @@ def grab_go_version_from_go_mod():
     return ""
 
 
+# Run `make merge-bot` to allow projects to run custom logic when merging
+# upstream changes. This is useful for projects that need to update vendored
+# dependencies or run other tasks after an upstream merge.
+# This is a best effort, and if the target doesn't exist, we ignore the error.
+def commit_run_make(repo):
+    try:
+        proc = subprocess.run(
+            "make merge-bot", shell=True, check=True, capture_output=True
+        )
+        logging.debug(f"make merge-bot output: {proc.stdout.decode()}")
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as err:
+        if "No rule to make target" not in err.stderr.decode():
+            raise MakeException(
+                f"Error running `make merge-bot`. Manual intervention is needed: {err}: {err.stderr.decode()}"
+            )
+        else:
+            logging.info("No make target for merge-bot, skipping")
+
+    if repo.is_dirty():
+        commit(repo, "CARRY: running make merge-bot")
+
+    return
+
+
+def commit(repo, msg):
+    try:
+        repo.git.add(all=True)
+        repo.git.commit("-m", msg)
+    except Exception as err:
+        err.extra_info = "Unable to commit changes in git"
+        raise err
+
+    return
+
+
 def commit_go_mod_updates(repo):
     try:
         go_version = grab_go_version_from_go_mod()
@@ -179,14 +222,7 @@ def commit_go_mod_updates(repo):
         )
 
     if repo.is_dirty():
-        try:
-            repo.git.add(all=True)
-            repo.git.commit(
-                "-m", "Updating and vendoring go modules after an upstream merge"
-            )
-        except Exception as err:
-            err.extra_info = "Unable to commit go module changes in git"
-            raise err
+        commit(repo, "Updating and vendoring go modules after an upstream merge")
 
     return
 
@@ -351,6 +387,7 @@ def run(
     gh_cloner_key,
     slack_webhook,
     update_go_modules=False,
+    run_make=False,
 ):
     logging.basicConfig(
         format="%(levelname)s - %(message)s", stream=sys.stdout, level=logging.INFO
@@ -414,6 +451,17 @@ def run(
 
         if update_go_modules:
             commit_go_mod_updates(gitwd)
+
+        if run_make:
+            commit_run_make(gitwd)
+
+    except MakeException as ex:
+        # We don't want to fail the merge if make fails, but we should inform
+        # the user that they need to run make merge-bot manually and fix the
+        # issue.
+        logging.warning(ex)
+        pass
+
     except RepoException as ex:
         logging.error(ex)
         message_slack(
diff --git a/src/merge_bot/test.py b/src/merge_bot/test.py
index 2bd5682..7898661 100644
--- a/src/merge_bot/test.py
+++ b/src/merge_bot/test.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     "github-cloner-key": "/credentials/gh-cloner-key",
     "slack-webhook": "/credentials/slack-webhook",
     "update-go-modules": None,
+    "run-make": None,
 }
 
 
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ def test_valid_cli_argmuents(self):
         self.assertEqual(args.github_cloner_key, "/credentials/gh-cloner-key")
         self.assertEqual(args.slack_webhook, "/credentials/slack-webhook")
         self.assertEqual(args.update_go_modules, True)
+        self.assertEqual(args.run_make, True)
 
     def test_invalid_branch(self):
         for branch in ("dest", "source", "merge"):