diff --git a/backend/.gitignore b/backend/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f9d00a65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+database.json
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/src/awsSetup.ts b/backend/src/awsSetup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..261fb567
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/awsSetup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import AWS from 'aws-sdk'
+
+export const setupFinished = new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+  const secretsManager = new AWS.SecretsManager({
+    region: process.env.AWS_REGION,
+  })
+
+  const secrets = Object.entries(process.env).filter(
+    ([key, value]) => key.startsWith('AWS_SECRET_') && value !== undefined,
+  ) as [string, string][]
+
+  const promises = secrets.map(async ([key, SecretId]) => {
+    return new Promise((resolve) => {
+      secretsManager.getSecretValue({ SecretId }, (err, data) => {
+        if (err) {
+          throw err
+        }
+        const realKey = key.replace('AWS_SECRET_', '')
+        process.env[realKey] = data.SecretString
+        resolve(true)
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  Promise.all(promises).then(() => {
+    resolve()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/backend/src/server.prod.ts b/backend/src/server.prod.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ce628e27..00000000
--- a/backend/src/server.prod.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-import AWS from 'aws-sdk'
-import { env } from './utils/misc.js'
-
-async function main() {
-  const secretsManager = new AWS.SecretsManager({
-    region: env('AWS_REGION'),
-  })
-
-  const secrets = Object.entries(process.env).filter(
-    ([key, value]) => key.startsWith('AWS_SECRET_') && value !== undefined,
-  ) as [string, string][]
-
-  secrets.forEach(([key, SecretId]) => {
-    secretsManager.getSecretValue({ SecretId }, (err, data) => {
-      if (err) {
-        throw err
-      }
-      const realKey = key.replace('AWS_SECRET_', '')
-      process.env[realKey] = data.SecretString
-    })
-  })
-
-  await import('./server.js')
-}
-
-main()
diff --git a/backend/src/server.ts b/backend/src/server.ts
index 85963f82..922d3055 100644
--- a/backend/src/server.ts
+++ b/backend/src/server.ts
@@ -1,2 +1,9 @@
-import './api.js'
-import './worker.js'
+const loadServer = async () => {
+  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
+    await import('./awsSetup.js').then(({ setupFinished }) => setupFinished)
+  }
+  await import('./worker.js')
+  await import('./api.js')
+}
+
+loadServer()
diff --git a/backend/start-server.sh b/backend/start-server.sh
index 6387ce45..dce27a06 100644
--- a/backend/start-server.sh
+++ b/backend/start-server.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-yarn db-migrate up
-node dist/server.js
\ No newline at end of file
+yarn db-migrate up -e ${NODE_ENV:-development}
+yarn start
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-compose.prod.yml b/docker-compose.prod.yml
index bf55d7f2..3d7e7398 100644
--- a/docker-compose.prod.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.prod.yml
@@ -59,19 +59,8 @@ services:
     ports:
       - "3000:3000"
     restart: unless-stopped
-    environment:
-      DATABASE_URL: ${DATABASE_URL}
-      RPC_ENDPOINT: ${RPC_ENDPOINT}
-      PRIVATE_KEYS_PATH: ${PRIVATE_KEYS_PATH}
-      CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS: ${CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS}
-      OBJECT_MAPPING_ARCHIVER_URL: ${OBJECT_MAPPING_ARCHIVER_URL}
-      MAX_CACHE_SIZE: ${MAX_CACHE_SIZE}
-      JWT_SECRET: ${JWT_SECRET}
-      FILES_GATEWAY_URL: ${FILES_GATEWAY_URL}
-      FILES_GATEWAY_TOKEN: ${FILES_GATEWAY_TOKEN}
-      AUTH_SERVICE_URL: ${AUTH_SERVICE_URL}
-      AUTH_SERVICE_API_KEY: ${AUTH_SERVICE_API_KEY}
-      ACCEPT_UNAUTHORIZED_CERTS: ${ACCEPT_UNAUTHORIZED_CERTS}
+    env_file:
+      - .env
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/health"]
       interval: 15s