diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index d4a2153d1..de3c238bf 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
 **/node_modules
 **/dist
 **/Dockerfile.dev
-**/Dockerfile.prod
\ No newline at end of file
+**/Dockerfile.prod
+
+# .env.local holds local development values and is committed to the repo.
+# Next.js loads it during `next build`, so if it reaches the build context it
+# overrides the build args baked into the published image (and dotenv-expand
+# mangles any value containing a `$`). Keep it out of image builds.
+**/.env
+**/.env.local
\ No newline at end of file