diff --git a/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/initialBuild.mjs b/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/initialBuild.mjs
index 03bd62a667..97db8df60c 100644
--- a/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/initialBuild.mjs
+++ b/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/initialBuild.mjs
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@
 
 function initialBuild(context) {
   return async () => {
+    context.readDotEnv();
     await context.lowdefyBuild();
     await context.installPlugins();
     await context.nextBuild();
-    await context.readDotEnv();
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/readDotEnv.mjs b/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/readDotEnv.mjs
index 917dc1166f..aa8765e7df 100644
--- a/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/readDotEnv.mjs
+++ b/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/readDotEnv.mjs
@@ -16,12 +16,10 @@
 
 import path from 'path';
 import dotenv from 'dotenv';
-import { readFile } from '@lowdefy/node-utils';
 
 function readDotEnv(context) {
-  return async () => {
-    const dotEnv = await readFile(path.join(context.directories.config, '.env'));
-    context.serverEnv = dotenv.parse(dotEnv || '');
+  return () => {
+    dotenv.config({ path: path.join(context.directories.config, '.env'), silent: true });
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/startNextServer.mjs b/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/startNextServer.mjs
index 1dce363016..a864987e26 100644
--- a/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/startNextServer.mjs
+++ b/packages/server-dev/manager/processes/startNextServer.mjs
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ function startServerProcess(context) {
     processOptions: {
       env: {
         ...process.env,
-        ...context.serverEnv,
         PORT: context.options.port,
       },
     },
diff --git a/packages/server-dev/manager/watchers/envWatcher.mjs b/packages/server-dev/manager/watchers/envWatcher.mjs
index 8ffbe42f20..e6f7c4dae5 100644
--- a/packages/server-dev/manager/watchers/envWatcher.mjs
+++ b/packages/server-dev/manager/watchers/envWatcher.mjs
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ import setupWatcher from '../utils/setupWatcher.mjs';
 function envWatcher(context) {
   const callback = async () => {
     console.warn('.env file changed.');
-    await context.readDotEnv();
+    context.readDotEnv();
+    await context.lowdefyBuild();
     context.restartServer();
   };
   return setupWatcher({