diff --git a/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/Dockerfile b/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/Dockerfile
index 9fbeebb..e0f558b 100644
--- a/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/Dockerfile
+++ b/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM cloudron/base:4.2.0
+FROM cloudron/base:__CLOUDRON_BASE__
 
 # Metadata labels (edit as needed)
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.title="__APP_TITLE__"
@@ -36,4 +36,3 @@ HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=20s --retries=3 \
   CMD curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:${APP_PORT}/ || exit 1
 
 CMD ["/app/pkg/start.sh"]
-
diff --git a/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/README.md b/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/README.md
index 6c8921d..702a40b 100644
--- a/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/README.md
+++ b/CloudronPackages/PackageTemplate/README.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Replace placeholders in files with your app specifics:
 - `__APP_ID__` (e.g., com.example.myapp)
 - `__APP_TITLE__` (human name)
 - `__HTTP_PORT__` (default internal app port)
+- `__CLOUDRON_BASE__` (Cloudron base image tag, e.g., 5.0.0)
 
 Files
 - `CloudronManifest.json` – base manifest
@@ -21,4 +22,3 @@ Usage
    `scripts/new-package.sh MyApp --id com.example.myapp --title "My App" --port 3000`
 2. Adjust Dockerfile and start.sh to run your app.
 3. Build and test locally; then commit and push.
-
diff --git a/scripts/new-package.sh b/scripts/new-package.sh
index 60aace2..14e151d 100755
--- a/scripts/new-package.sh
+++ b/scripts/new-package.sh
@@ -21,12 +21,14 @@ APP_NAME="$1"; shift
 APP_ID="com.example.${APP_NAME,,}"
 APP_TITLE="$APP_NAME"
 HTTP_PORT="3000"
+BASE_TAG="5.0.0"
 
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
   case "$1" in
     --id) APP_ID="$2"; shift 2;;
     --title) APP_TITLE="$2"; shift 2;;
     --port) HTTP_PORT="$2"; shift 2;;
+    --base) BASE_TAG="$2"; shift 2;;
     -h|--help) usage; exit 0;;
     *) echo "Unknown argument: $1"; usage; exit 1;;
   esac
@@ -46,8 +48,8 @@ find "$DEST_DIR" -type f \( -name "*" ! -name "*.png" \) -print0 | while IFS= re
   sed -i "s#__APP_ID__#${APP_ID}#g" "$f"
   sed -i "s#__APP_TITLE__#${APP_TITLE}#g" "$f"
   sed -i "s#__HTTP_PORT__#${HTTP_PORT}#g" "$f"
+  sed -i "s#__CLOUDRON_BASE__#${BASE_TAG}#g" "$f"
 done
 
 echo "Created package at: $DEST_DIR"
 echo "Next steps: edit Dockerfile and start.sh to run your app. Add logo.png if desired."
-