diff --git a/config/env.js b/config/env.js
index d86994f441..6cf66ec129 100644
--- a/config/env.js
+++ b/config/env.js
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 const path = require('path');
 const fs = require('fs');
 
-const envPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../.env');
-if (!fs.existsSync(envPath)) {
-  throw Error('.env not found, please copy sample.env to .env.');
+// PIPELINE_ENV  is 'true' in the build pipeline
+if (process.env.PIPELINE_ENV !== 'true') {
+  const envPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../.env');
+  if (!fs.existsSync(envPath)) {
+    throw Error('.env not found, please copy sample.env to .env.');
+  }
+  require('dotenv').config({ path: envPath });
 }
-require('dotenv').config({ path: envPath });
 
 const {
   HOME_LOCATION: home,
diff --git a/sample.env b/sample.env
index d27ec0a2c8..5a5a285d3f 100644
--- a/sample.env
+++ b/sample.env
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ PAYPAL_WEBHOOK_ID=webhook_id_from_paypal_dashboard
 # ---------------------
 # Build variants
 # ---------------------
+PIPELINE_ENV=false
 DEPLOYMENT_ENV='staging'
 FREECODECAMP_NODE_ENV='development'
 # Language to build