diff --git a/worker/index.js b/worker/index.js
index a1f91fa6..759d6ad7 100644
--- a/worker/index.js
+++ b/worker/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
+// environment variables are loaded from files and imports run before the rest of the code
+import './loadenv.js'
 import PgBoss from 'pg-boss'
-import nextEnv from '@next/env'
 import createPrisma from '@/lib/create-prisma.js'
 import {
   autoDropBolt11s, checkInvoice, checkPendingDeposits, checkPendingWithdrawals,
@@ -34,11 +35,8 @@ import {
 import { thisDay } from './thisDay.js'
 import { isServiceEnabled } from '@/lib/sndev.js'
 
-const { loadEnvConfig } = nextEnv
 const { ApolloClient, HttpLink, InMemoryCache } = apolloClient
 
-loadEnvConfig('.', process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development')
-
 async function work () {
   const boss = new PgBoss(process.env.DATABASE_URL)
   const models = createPrisma({
diff --git a/worker/loadenv.js b/worker/loadenv.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d05d0614
--- /dev/null
+++ b/worker/loadenv.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+import nextEnv from '@next/env'
+const { loadEnvConfig } = nextEnv
+loadEnvConfig('.', process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development')