diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 470925fd..a0225e15 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
 COPY . .
 
+RUN \
+    if [ -f .env ]; then echo ".env file found, continuing..."; else echo ".env file not found, exiting..."; exit 1; fi
+
 # Next.js collects completely anonymous telemetry data about general usage.
 # Learn more here: https://nextjs.org/telemetry
 # Uncomment the following line in case you want to disable telemetry during the build.