diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 82ef265..d1a5e5c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 FROM node:24-alpine
 
-ENV DATABASE_URL=<the_database_url>
+ARG DATABASE_URL
+
+ENV DATABASE_URL=${DATABASE_URL}
 
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY . .