diff --git a/frontend/Dockerfile b/frontend/Dockerfile
index 4f80563c..3151011c 100644
--- a/frontend/Dockerfile
+++ b/frontend/Dockerfile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ FROM node:alpine AS base
 WORKDIR /app
 
 # install system dependencies
-RUN apk add curl
+RUN apk add curl bash
 
 # Add a new user "app" and change ownership of the /app directory
 RUN addgroup app && adduser -S -G app app && chown -R app:app /app
diff --git a/frontend/scripts/replace-variable.sh b/frontend/scripts/replace-variable.sh
index 0d49b052..21a5fb68 100644
--- a/frontend/scripts/replace-variable.sh
+++ b/frontend/scripts/replace-variable.sh
@@ -1,22 +1,37 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+# replace-variables.sh
 
-# Ensure NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_API_BASE and NEXT_PUBLIC_NEXTAUTH_PROVIDERS are set
-if [ -z "$NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_API_BASE" ]; then
-    echo "NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_API_BASE is not set. Please set it and rerun the script."
-    exit 1
-fi
+# Define a list of mandatory environment variables to check
+MANDATORY_VARS=("NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_API_BASE" "NEXT_PUBLIC_NEXTAUTH_PROVIDERS")
+
+# Define a list of optional environment variables (no check needed)
+OPTIONAL_VARS=("APP_HOST" "NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY" "NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST" "NEXT_PUBLIC_GITHUB_INTEGRATION_CLIENT_ID")
 
-if [ -z "$NEXT_PUBLIC_NEXTAUTH_PROVIDERS" ]; then
-    echo "NEXT_PUBLIC_NEXTAUTH_PROVIDERS is not set. Please set it and rerun the script."
-    exit 1
+# Infer NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_HOST from APP_HOST if not already set
+if [ -z "$NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_HOST" ] && [ ! -z "$APP_HOST" ]; then
+    export NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_HOST="$APP_HOST"
 fi
 
+# Check if each mandatory variable is set
+for VAR in "${MANDATORY_VARS[@]}"; do
+    if [ -z "${!VAR}" ]; then
+        echo "$VAR is not set. Please set it and rerun the script."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+done
+
+# Combine mandatory and optional variables for replacement
+ALL_VARS=("${MANDATORY_VARS[@]}" "${OPTIONAL_VARS[@]}")
+
+# Add NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_HOST to the list for replacement
+ALL_VARS+=("NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_HOST")
+
+# Find and replace BAKED values with real values
 find /app/public /app/.next -type f -name "*.js" |
 while read file; do
-    sed -i "s|BAKED_NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_API_BASE|$NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_API_BASE|g" "$file"
-    sed -i "s|BAKED_NEXT_PUBLIC_NEXTAUTH_PROVIDERS|$NEXT_PUBLIC_NEXTAUTH_PROVIDERS|g" "$file"
-    sed -i "s|BAKED_NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_HOST|$APP_HOST|g" "$file"
-    sed -i "s|BAKED_NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY|$NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY|g" "$file"
-    sed -i "s|BAKED_NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST|$NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST|g" "$file"
-    sed -i "s|BAKED_NEXT_PUBLIC_GITHUB_INTEGRATION_CLIENT_ID|$GITHUB_INTEGRATION_CLIENT_ID|g" "$file"
-done
\ No newline at end of file
+    for VAR in "${ALL_VARS[@]}"; do
+        if [ ! -z "${!VAR}" ]; then
+            sed -i "s|BAKED_$VAR|${!VAR}|g" "$file"
+        fi
+    done
+done
diff --git a/frontend/scripts/start.sh b/frontend/scripts/start.sh
index 1bede6ce..11704311 100644
--- a/frontend/scripts/start.sh
+++ b/frontend/scripts/start.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 # Set up runtime env vars and start next server
-sh scripts/replace-variable.sh && 
+bash scripts/replace-variable.sh && 
 yarn start