diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4077ccb..89c8933 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,6 +32,14 @@ Configure your infrastructure using the appropriate configuration files listed i
 
 nf-canary adheres to the `--outdir` convention established by [nf-core](https://nf-co.re/) to determine the output file destination. If not specified, output files are written to the work directory under a subfolder named `outputs`.
 
+### Overriding default container
+
+The container is specified by the `container` parameter, which defaults to `quay.io/biocontainers/ubuntu:24.04`. If you wish to use a different container, you can specify an alternative using the --container parameter.
+
+```nextflow
+params.container = 'docker.io/ubuntu:24.04'
+```
+
 ### Skipping Tests
 
 Skip individual tests by name using the `--skip` parameter, e.g., `--skip TEST_INPUT`. Multiple tests can be specified with comma-delimited values, e.g., `--skip TEST_CREATE_FILE,TEST_PASS_FILE`. The parameter is case-insensitive.
diff --git a/nextflow.config b/nextflow.config
index e7e4b34..8edb0c6 100644
--- a/nextflow.config
+++ b/nextflow.config
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@ params {
     run        = null
     outdir     = null
     remoteFile = null
+    container  = "quay.io/biocontainers/ubuntu:24.04"
 }
 
 process {
-    container     = "docker.io/library/ubuntu:23.10"
+    container     = params.container
     errorStrategy = "finish"
     when          = { 
         ( params.run ? params.run.split(',').any{ "NF_CANARY:${it.toUpperCase()}".contains(task.process) } : true ) && 
diff --git a/nextflow_schema.json b/nextflow_schema.json
index 6e969fb..88668a4 100644
--- a/nextflow_schema.json
+++ b/nextflow_schema.json
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@
                     "help_text": "Path to a remote file to use within the pipeline. This mimics a remote set of files such as reference data that may need to be retrieved prior to analysis. By default this is not specified and the test is not ran, add a remote file using standard Nextflow filenaming to pull a file from your storage (e.g. an S3 bucket or shared storage).",
                     "format": "path"
                 },
+                "container": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "Container URI for nf-canary",
+                    "help_text": "Specifies the container URI. By default, this is an Ubuntu container on quay.io with no usage limits.",
+                    "default": "quay.io/biocontainers/ubuntu:24.04"
+                },
                 "gpu": {
                     "type": "boolean",
                     "description": "Whether to test GPU utilization within a process."