diff --git a/fantom/Dockerfile-fullnode b/fantom/Dockerfile-fullnode
index aecc58d2..4f76ad34 100644
--- a/fantom/Dockerfile-fullnode
+++ b/fantom/Dockerfile-fullnode
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 FROM golang:1.19-alpine as builder
 
 # Install packages we need
-RUN apk add --no-cache make gcc musl-dev linux-headers git openssl
+RUN apk add --no-cache make gcc musl-dev linux-headers git openssl xxd
 
 # Make a folder to work in
 RUN mkdir /fantom
diff --git a/fantom/scripts/entrypoint-fullnode.sh b/fantom/scripts/entrypoint-fullnode.sh
index 3c443c2c..2d387dd6 100644
--- a/fantom/scripts/entrypoint-fullnode.sh
+++ b/fantom/scripts/entrypoint-fullnode.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,14 @@ fi
 # uncomment the next line and do docker-compose build in case you have to try to fix the db after unclean shutdown etc.
 # opera --db.preset pbl-1 --datadir=$FANTOM_HOME db heal --experimental
 
-[ -f /config/nodekey ] || openssl rand -hex 32 > /config/nodekey
+# Generate nodekey only if it doesn't exist
+if [ ! -f /config/nodekey ]; then
+    echo "Generating new Geth node key..."
+    openssl rand 32 | xxd -p -c 32 | tr -d '\n' > /config/nodekey
+    echo "Node key generated: $(cat /config/nodekey)"
+else
+    echo "Node key already exists, skipping generation."
+fi
 
 opera \
     --genesis=$FANTOM_HOME/mainnet-171200-no-history.g \