diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index fa2d71c0..c59490b6 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -43,23 +43,25 @@ RUN test -f dist/server.mjs
 
 RUN npm run build:cli
 
+# Prune dev dependencies and clean up to prepare for copy to runner
+RUN npm prune --omit=dev && npm cache clean --force
+
 FROM node:24-alpine AS runner
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-# Curl used for the health checks
-# Python and build tools needed for better-sqlite3 native compilation
-RUN apk add --no-cache curl tzdata python3 make g++
+# Only curl and tzdata needed at runtime - no build tools!
+RUN apk add --no-cache curl tzdata
 
-# COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
-COPY package*.json ./
-
-RUN npm ci --omit=dev && npm cache clean --force
+# Copy pre-built node_modules from builder (already pruned to production only)
+# This includes the compiled native modules like better-sqlite3
+COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
 
 COPY --from=builder /app/.next/standalone ./
 COPY --from=builder /app/.next/static ./.next/static
 COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
 COPY --from=builder /app/init ./dist/init
+COPY --from=builder /app/package.json ./package.json
 
 COPY ./cli/wrapper.sh /usr/local/bin/pangctl
 RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pangctl ./dist/cli.mjs
diff --git a/server/db/pg/driver.ts b/server/db/pg/driver.ts
index 9456effb..2ee34da6 100644
--- a/server/db/pg/driver.ts
+++ b/server/db/pg/driver.ts
@@ -6,28 +6,28 @@ import { withReplicas } from "drizzle-orm/pg-core";
 function createDb() {
     const config = readConfigFile();
 
-    if (!config.postgres) {
-        // check the environment variables for postgres config
-        if (process.env.POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING) {
-            config.postgres = {
-                connection_string: process.env.POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING
-            };
-            if (process.env.POSTGRES_REPLICA_CONNECTION_STRINGS) {
-                const replicas =
-                    process.env.POSTGRES_REPLICA_CONNECTION_STRINGS.split(
-                        ","
-                    ).map((conn) => ({
+    // check the environment variables for postgres config first before the config file
+    if (process.env.POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING) {
+        config.postgres = {
+            connection_string: process.env.POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING
+        };
+        if (process.env.POSTGRES_REPLICA_CONNECTION_STRINGS) {
+            const replicas =
+                process.env.POSTGRES_REPLICA_CONNECTION_STRINGS.split(",").map(
+                    (conn) => ({
                         connection_string: conn.trim()
-                    }));
-                config.postgres.replicas = replicas;
-            }
-        } else {
-            throw new Error(
-                "Postgres configuration is missing in the configuration file."
-            );
+                    })
+                );
+            config.postgres.replicas = replicas;
         }
     }
 
+    if (!config.postgres) {
+        throw new Error(
+            "Postgres configuration is missing in the configuration file."
+        );
+    }
+
     const connectionString = config.postgres?.connection_string;
     const replicaConnections = config.postgres?.replicas || [];