diff --git a/services/spelling/.nvmrc b/services/spelling/.nvmrc
index e1e5d1369a..bfec95bf0e 100644
--- a/services/spelling/.nvmrc
+++ b/services/spelling/.nvmrc
@@ -1 +1 @@
-6.9.5
+6.16.0
diff --git a/services/spelling/Dockerfile b/services/spelling/Dockerfile
index 2845544ae6..cfb417387e 100644
--- a/services/spelling/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/spelling/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM node:6.9.5 as app
+FROM node:6.16.0 as app
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ COPY . /app
 
 RUN npm run compile:all
 
-FROM node:6.9.5
+FROM node:6.16.0
 
 COPY --from=app /app /app
 
diff --git a/services/spelling/buildscript.txt b/services/spelling/buildscript.txt
index 922b2b6ad7..f8d7331788 100644
--- a/services/spelling/buildscript.txt
+++ b/services/spelling/buildscript.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 spelling
 --language=coffeescript
---node-version=6.9.5
+--node-version=6.16.0
 --acceptance-creds=None
 --dependencies=mongo,redis
 --docker-repos=gcr.io/overleaf-ops
diff --git a/services/spelling/install_deps.sh b/services/spelling/install_deps.sh
index 8e8dc75381..159baf3e19 100644
--- a/services/spelling/install_deps.sh
+++ b/services/spelling/install_deps.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
-# some spelling packages are missing from debian and are on ubuntulo
-echo "deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic main universe" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
-apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3B4FE6ACC0B21F32
+echo 'APT::Default-Release "stretch";' >/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/default-release
+
+# The following aspell packages exist in Ubuntu but not Debian:
+# aspell-af, aspell-id, aspell-nr, aspell-ns, aspell-ss, aspell-st, aspell-tn, 
+# aspell-ts, aspell-xh, aspell-zu
+echo "deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic main universe" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bionic.list
+apt-key adv --no-tty --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3B4FE6ACC0B21F32
+# Need to install aspell-or, aspell-ta and aspell-te from testing (buster) as
+# broken in stable (stretch).
+echo "deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/unstable.list
+
 apt-get update
-apt-get install -y aspell aspell-en aspell-af aspell-am aspell-ar aspell-ar-large aspell-bg aspell-bn aspell-br aspell-ca aspell-cs aspell-cy aspell-da aspell-de aspell-de-alt aspell-el aspell-eo aspell-es aspell-et aspell-eu-es aspell-fa aspell-fo aspell-fr aspell-ga aspell-gl-minimos aspell-gu aspell-he aspell-hi aspell-hr aspell-hsb aspell-hu aspell-hy aspell-id aspell-is aspell-it aspell-kk aspell-kn aspell-ku aspell-lt aspell-lv aspell-ml aspell-mr aspell-nl aspell-no aspell-nr aspell-ns aspell-or aspell-pa aspell-pl aspell-pt aspell-pt-br aspell-ro aspell-ru aspell-sk aspell-sk aspell-ss aspell-st aspell-sv aspell-ta aspell-te aspell-tl aspell-tn aspell-ts aspell-uk aspell-uz aspell-xh aspell-zu
+apt-get install -y aspell aspell-en aspell-af aspell-am aspell-ar aspell-ar-large aspell-bg aspell-bn aspell-br aspell-ca aspell-cs aspell-cy aspell-da aspell-de aspell-de-alt aspell-el aspell-eo aspell-es aspell-et aspell-eu-es aspell-fa aspell-fo aspell-fr aspell-ga aspell-gl-minimos aspell-gu aspell-he aspell-hi aspell-hr aspell-hsb aspell-hu aspell-hy aspell-id aspell-is aspell-it aspell-kk aspell-kn aspell-ku aspell-lt aspell-lv aspell-ml aspell-mr aspell-nl aspell-nr aspell-ns  aspell-pa aspell-pl aspell-pt aspell-pt-br aspell-ro aspell-ru aspell-sk aspell-sk aspell-ss aspell-st aspell-sv aspell-tl aspell-tn aspell-ts aspell-uk aspell-uz aspell-xh aspell-zu
+
+apt-get install aspell-or=0.03-1-6 aspell-te=0.01-2-6 aspell-no=2.2-4 aspell-ta=20040424-1-2
 mkdir /app/cache
 chown node:node /app/cache
-chmod 0777 /app/cache
\ No newline at end of file
+chmod 0777 /app/cache