diff --git a/docs/deployment/docker.md b/docs/deployment/docker.md
index ff31a6a81f..d46aff1b06 100644
--- a/docs/deployment/docker.md
+++ b/docs/deployment/docker.md
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 USER node
 WORKDIR /app
 
+# This switches many Node.js dependencies to production mode.
+ENV NODE_ENV production
+
 # Copy repo skeleton first, to avoid unnecessary docker cache invalidation.
 # The skeleton contains the package.json of each package in the monorepo,
 # and along with yarn.lock and the root package.json, that's enough to run yarn install.
@@ -190,6 +193,9 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 USER node
 WORKDIR /app
 
+# This switches many Node.js dependencies to production mode.
+ENV NODE_ENV production
+
 # Copy the install dependencies from the build stage and context
 COPY --from=build --chown=node:node /app/yarn.lock /app/package.json /app/packages/backend/dist/skeleton.tar.gz ./
 RUN tar xzf skeleton.tar.gz && rm skeleton.tar.gz
diff --git a/packages/backend/Dockerfile b/packages/backend/Dockerfile
index bda34fa045..ed18da530b 100644
--- a/packages/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/packages/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 USER node
 WORKDIR /app
 
+# This switches many Node.js dependencies to production mode.
+ENV NODE_ENV production
+
 # Copy repo skeleton first, to avoid unnecessary docker cache invalidation.
 # The skeleton contains the package.json of each package in the monorepo,
 # and along with yarn.lock and the root package.json, that's enough to run yarn install.
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/Dockerfile b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/Dockerfile
index c926ba350b..682798b826 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 USER node
 WORKDIR /app
 
+# This switches many Node.js dependencies to production mode.
+ENV NODE_ENV production
+
 # Copy repo skeleton first, to avoid unnecessary docker cache invalidation.
 # The skeleton contains the package.json of each package in the monorepo,
 # and along with yarn.lock and the root package.json, that's enough to run yarn install.