diff --git a/.env b/.env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dc96c78c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_APP_ID=APP_NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_APP_ID
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_API_KEY=APP_NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_API_KEY
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_INDEX_NAME=APP_NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_INDEX_NAME
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 984f7657..1015a188 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -16,15 +16,17 @@ RUN npm install --production
 # Copy all files
 COPY ./ ./
 
+COPY /docker/entrypoint.sh ./entrypoint.sh
+
 # Build app
 RUN npm run build
 
+RUN chmod u+x /usr/app/entrypoint.sh
+
 # Expose the listening port
 EXPOSE 3000
 
-# Run container as non-root (unprivileged) user
-# The node user is provided in the Node.js Alpine base image
-USER node
+# apply env variables to the Nextjs .env file
+ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/app/entrypoint.sh"]
 
-# Run npm start script with PM2 when container starts
-CMD [ "pm2-runtime", "npm", "--", "start" ]
\ No newline at end of file
+CMD npm run start
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9a3c381f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# this script will check for the following NEXT_* environment variables passed via Docker environment (-e) and apply them
+# to the Nextjs.
+# The properties that will be replaced and have to start with APP_ prefix in the .env file
+
+set -ex
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_APP_ID=${NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_APP_ID:-"none"}
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_API_KEY=${NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_API_KEY:-"none"}
+NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_INDEX_NAME=${NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_INDEX_NAME:"none"}
+
+find /usr/app/.next \( -type d -name .git -prune \) -o -type f -print0 | xargs -0 sed -i "s#APP_NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_APP_ID#${NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_APP_ID}#g"
+find /usr/app/.next \( -type d -name .git -prune \) -o -type f -print0 | xargs -0 sed -i "s#APP_NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_API_KEY#${NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_API_KEY}#g"
+find /usr/app/.next \( -type d -name .git -prune \) -o -type f -print0 | xargs -0 sed -i "s#APP_NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_INDEX_NAME#${NEXT_PUBLIC_DOCSEARCH_INDEX_NAME}#g"
+
+echo "starting Nextjs"
+exec "$@"
\ No newline at end of file