diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 9784c4d..c0413b5 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ node_modules
 dist
 .git
 *.log
+
+# Exclude ALL .env files at any level (they contain localhost URLs)
 .env
-.env.local
 .env.*
+**/.env
+**/.env.*
 !packages/database/.env.example
-apps/web/.env.local
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile.web b/docker/Dockerfile.web
index 8fbc986..7ab9740 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile.web
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile.web
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@ ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL}
 ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=${NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY}
 ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL}
 
+# Remove any .env files that Next.js/turbo might auto-load during build
+# (they contain localhost URLs that override Docker env vars)
+RUN rm -f .env .env.local .env.production apps/web/.env apps/web/.env.local apps/web/.env.production
+
+# Debug: verify env vars before build
+RUN echo "=== Build env: INTERNAL_API_URL=$INTERNAL_API_URL API_URL=$API_URL ==="
+
 RUN pnpm build --filter=@coursecraft/web...
 
 EXPOSE 3080