diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f58bbaa..020da35 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ FROM node:26-slim
 WORKDIR /app
 
 # Install piper TTS binary and an English voice model
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends wget ca-certificates \
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends wget ca-certificates libespeak-ng1 \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 RUN wget -qO /tmp/piper.tar.gz \
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 6a6e2f6..92f1acf 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -1306,7 +1306,7 @@ app.get('/api/tts', (req, res) => {
       '--model', PIPER_MODEL,
       '--output_file', cachePath,
       '--quiet',
-    ], { input: text, encoding: 'buffer', timeout: 15000 });
+    ], { input: text, timeout: 15000 });
 
     if (result.status !== 0 || !existsSync(cachePath)) {
       return res.status(500).json({ error: 'TTS generation failed' });