diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3f9fc9c..0fcaf71 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -61,13 +61,14 @@ RUN chown nextjs:nodejs .next
 COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
 COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static
 
-# Copy Prisma (client and schema for migrations)
+# Copy Prisma (client, schema, and config for migrations)
 COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules/.prisma ./node_modules/.prisma
 COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules/@prisma ./node_modules/@prisma
 COPY prisma ./prisma/
+COPY prisma.config.mjs ./
 
-# Install Prisma CLI globally for migrations
-RUN npm install -g prisma@7
+# Install Prisma CLI and dotenv globally for migrations
+RUN npm install -g prisma@7 dotenv
 
 USER nextjs
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1701d63..64e108b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@
     "zustand": "^5.0.3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "dotenv": "^16.5.0",
     "@eslint/eslintrc": "^3.3.3",
     "@testing-library/react": "^16.3.1",
     "@types/bcryptjs": "^2.4.6",
diff --git a/prisma.config.mjs b/prisma.config.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c7dd7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prisma.config.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Load .env file for local development (silently skip if not available)
+try {
+  const dotenv = await import('dotenv')
+  dotenv.config()
+} catch {
+  // dotenv not available (e.g., in Docker) - env vars passed directly
+}
+
+const databaseUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL
+
+if (!databaseUrl) {
+  throw new Error('DATABASE_URL environment variable is required')
+}
+
+export default {
+  schema: 'prisma/schema.prisma',
+  migrations: {
+    path: 'prisma/migrations',
+  },
+  datasource: {
+    url: databaseUrl,
+  },
+}
diff --git a/prisma/prisma.config.ts b/prisma/prisma.config.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 952ca5c..0000000
--- a/prisma/prisma.config.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-import 'dotenv/config'
-import { defineConfig, env } from 'prisma/config'
-
-export default defineConfig({
-  schema: 'prisma/schema.prisma',
-  migrations: {
-    path: 'prisma/migrations',
-  },
-  datasource: {
-    url: env('DATABASE_URL'),
-  },
-})