diff --git a/next.config.ts b/next.config.ts
index 3f4d320b..e530fb7f 100644
--- a/next.config.ts
+++ b/next.config.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ import type { NextConfig } from "next";
 import createNextIntlPlugin from "next-intl/plugin";
 
 import { pullEnv } from "./src/lib/pullEnv";
-// validate env variables on build and such
-pullEnv();
+
+// validate env variables on local dev
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
+    pullEnv();
+}
 
 const withNextIntl = createNextIntlPlugin();