diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index b99e7de96..72cdca100 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
 node_modules
 .git
 .gitignore
+.angular
+dist
+app
+release
+backup
+*.log
+.idea
+.vscode
+coverage
+e2e-results
+tmp
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 8e58bf5cb..3c6673d60 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ RUN npm run prepare
 
 # Copy source and build
 COPY . .
-RUN npm run env && npm run lint && npm run buildFrontend:prodWeb
+# Pass build args as environment variables for the build commands
+RUN UNSPLASH_KEY=$UNSPLASH_KEY UNSPLASH_CLIENT_ID=$UNSPLASH_CLIENT_ID npm run env && npm run lint && npm run buildFrontend:prodWeb
 
 # Production stage
 FROM nginx:1-alpine
diff --git a/tools/load-env.js b/tools/load-env.js
index 2f5de3b1c..5054e6ffb 100755
--- a/tools/load-env.js
+++ b/tools/load-env.js
@@ -4,39 +4,55 @@ const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const dotenv = require('dotenv');
 
-// Load .env file
+const REQUIRED_ENV_KEYS = [
+  'UNSPLASH_KEY',
+  'UNSPLASH_CLIENT_ID',
+  // 'GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN',
+  // 'DROPBOX_API_KEY',
+  // 'WEBDAV_URL',
+  // 'WEBDAV_USERNAME',
+  // 'WEBDAV_PASSWORD',
+];
+
+// Start with system environment variables for required keys
+const env = {};
+REQUIRED_ENV_KEYS.forEach((key) => {
+  if (process.env[key]) {
+    env[key] = process.env[key];
+  }
+});
+
+// Load and override with .env file values if they exist
 const envPath = path.join(process.cwd(), '.env');
 const envConfig = dotenv.config({ path: envPath });
-
-let env = envConfig.parsed || {};
-
-// In CI environment, also read from process.env for specific keys
-if (process.env.CI === 'true' || !envConfig.parsed) {
-  console.log('🔍 CI environment detected, checking for environment variables...');
-
-  // List of environment variables to check for in CI
-  const ciEnvKeys = [
-    'UNSPLASH_KEY',
-    'UNSPLASH_CLIENT_ID',
-    'GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN',
-    'DROPBOX_API_KEY',
-    'WEBDAV_URL',
-    'WEBDAV_USERNAME',
-    'WEBDAV_PASSWORD',
-  ];
-
-  ciEnvKeys.forEach((key) => {
-    if (process.env[key]) {
-      env[key] = process.env[key];
-      console.log(`  ✓ Found ${key} in environment`);
-    }
-  });
+if (envConfig.parsed) {
+  Object.assign(env, envConfig.parsed);
 }
 
-if (Object.keys(env).length === 0) {
-  console.warn('⚠️  No environment variables found, generating empty env.generated.ts');
+// Log what we found
+const foundKeys = Object.keys(env).filter((key) => REQUIRED_ENV_KEYS.includes(key));
+if (foundKeys.length > 0) {
+  console.log(
+    `✅ Found ${foundKeys.length} environment variable(s): ${foundKeys.join(', ')}`,
+  );
+} else {
+  console.warn(
+    '⚠️  No environment variables found, generating env.generated.ts with undefined values',
+  );
 }
 
+// Create ENV object with all expected keys (undefined if not set)
+const envEntries = REQUIRED_ENV_KEYS.map((key) => {
+  const value = env[key];
+  if (value !== undefined) {
+    // Escape quotes in values
+    const escapedValue = value.replace(/'/g, "\\'");
+    return `  ${key}: '${escapedValue}',`;
+  } else {
+    return `  ${key}: undefined,`;
+  }
+});
+
 // Generate TypeScript content
 const tsContent = `// This file is auto-generated by tools/load-env.js
 // Do not modify directly - edit .env file instead
@@ -47,13 +63,7 @@ const tsContent = `// This file is auto-generated by tools/load-env.js
  * Access these constants instead of process.env in your Angular app
  */
 export const ENV = {
-${Object.entries(env)
-  .map(([key, value]) => {
-    // Escape quotes in values
-    const escapedValue = value.replace(/'/g, "\\'");
-    return `  ${key}: '${escapedValue}',`;
-  })
-  .join('\n')}
+${envEntries.join('\n')}
 } as const;
 
 // Type-safe helper to ensure all expected env vars are defined
@@ -70,9 +80,7 @@ if (!fs.existsSync(configDir)) {
 const outputPath = path.join(configDir, 'env.generated.ts');
 fs.writeFileSync(outputPath, tsContent);
 
-console.log(
-  `✅ Generated ${outputPath} with ${Object.keys(env).length} environment variables`,
-);
+console.log(`✅ Generated ${outputPath}`);
 
 // Pass through to the next command
 if (process.argv.length > 2) {