diff --git a/backend/db.js b/backend/db.js
index 7b25f75..0b7a973 100644
--- a/backend/db.js
+++ b/backend/db.js
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 // All route files import this module instead of receiving a sqlite3 `db` parameter.
 // Configured via DATABASE_URL environment variable.
 
+// Ensure dotenv is loaded before accessing env vars
+require('dotenv').config({ path: require('path').join(__dirname, '.env') });
+
 const { Pool } = require('pg');
 
 if (!process.env.DATABASE_URL) {