diff --git a/playbooks/newt.yml b/playbooks/newt.yml
index 0f8d110..953c869 100644
--- a/playbooks/newt.yml
+++ b/playbooks/newt.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@
         state: directory
         mode: "0755"
 
+    - name: Ensure pangolin Docker network exists
+      community.docker.docker_network:
+        name: pangolin
+        driver: bridge
+        state: present
+
     - name: Write compose.yaml
       copy:
         dest: "{{ newt_stack_dir }}/compose.yaml"