diff --git a/base/Dockerfile b/base/Dockerfile
index 8c4149787f6d6c3c959d63d38d2dc98b956d8f84..65f18460d7aba2091e0c76395452b3b0f92aa683 100644
--- a/base/Dockerfile
+++ b/base/Dockerfile
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ RUN echo 'from clb_nb_utils import oauth as clb_oauth' >> /opt/app-root/src/.ipy
 RUN R --slave -e "install.packages('IRkernel')"
 RUN R --slave -e "IRkernel::installspec(name = 'ir363', displayname = 'R 3.6.3')"
 
+# disable core dumps
+RUN ulimit -c 0
+
 # fix permissions so NB_USER has permissions to run notebooks and install packages
 COPY base/fix-permissions /usr/local/bin/fix-permissions
 RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/fix-permissions