diff --git a/build/docker/README.md b/build/docker/README.md
index eda8279..f6db3c2 100644
--- a/build/docker/README.md
+++ b/build/docker/README.md
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
     | java      | 1.8.0_141  | 1.8.0_141      | 1.8.0_131     |
     | js        |            |                |               |
     | lua       | 5.3.4      | 5.2.4          | 5.2.4         |
-    | nodejs    | 6.11.1     | 8.4.0          | 8.4.0         |
+    | nodejs    | 6.11.1     | 8.4.0          | 7.10.1        |
     | ocaml     | 4.01.0     | 4.02.3         | 4.02.3        |
     | perl      | 5.16.3     | 5.24.1         | 5.22.1        |
     | php       | 5.4.16     | 7.0.19         | 7.0.22        |
diff --git a/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile b/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile
index 61ba5ff..54a7068 100644
--- a/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/docker/ubuntu-xenial/Dockerfile
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@
 #     echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/microsoft-ubuntu-xenial-prod xenial main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dotnetdev.list
 
 # node.js (this step runs apt-get update internally)
-RUN curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x | bash
+# note: node 8.5 introduced some issues with directory handling / jsdoc / something... using 7.x for now
+RUN curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_7.x | bash
 
 
 ### install general dependencies