diff --git a/bioconda_utils/docker_utils.py b/bioconda_utils/docker_utils.py
index 52aae0879e..a5792bc3a5 100644
--- a/bioconda_utils/docker_utils.py
+++ b/bioconda_utils/docker_utils.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@
 mkdir -p {self.container_staging}/linux-64
 mkdir -p {self.container_staging}/linux-aarch64
 mkdir -p {self.container_staging}/noarch
-touch {self.container_staging}/noarch/repodata.json
+conda index {self.container_staging}
 conda config --add channels file://{self.container_staging} 2> >(
     grep -vF "Warning: 'file://{self.container_staging}' already in 'channels' list, moving to the top" >&2
 )