diff --git a/config/env.js b/config/env.js
index d98f22fd69..dee22df369 100644
--- a/config/env.js
+++ b/config/env.js
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 const path = require('path');
+const fs = require('fs');
 
 if (process.env.FREECODECAMP_NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
   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 });
 }
 
diff --git a/docs/how-to-setup-freecodecamp-locally.md b/docs/how-to-setup-freecodecamp-locally.md
index c2c1e5d3cb..3eec0897bf 100644
--- a/docs/how-to-setup-freecodecamp-locally.md
+++ b/docs/how-to-setup-freecodecamp-locally.md
@@ -191,12 +191,10 @@ This step will install the dependencies required for the application to run:
 
 **Docker Build:**
 ```shell
-npm run docker:init
-npm run docker:install
-npm run docker:seed
+npm run docker:run-once
 ```
 
-Each of the Docker commands above will take some time to complete. You should wait for each command to fully complete before running the next.
+There is a lot to install, this step may take a few minutes.
 
 You will also need to install a few npm packages outside of Docker. You can skip this step if you are only running the app locally and will not use git.
 
diff --git a/libcimp_index_js.patch b/libcimp_index_js.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index b8f8299cfd..0000000000
--- a/libcimp_index_js.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
-index 61bf354..c00dc03 100644
---- a/index.js
-+++ b/index.js
-@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ class Installer {
-         )
-         return BB.join(
-           this.checkLock(),
--          stat && rimraf(path.join(this.prefix, 'node_modules'))
-+          stat && rimraf(path.join(this.prefix, 'node_modules/*'))
-         )
-       }).then(() => {
-       // This needs to happen -after- we've done checkLock()
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index cbbc5f7e00..be6070f882 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -17,10 +17,11 @@
     "develop": "npm-run-all ensure-env -p develop:*",
     "develop:client": "cd ./client && npm run develop",
     "develop:server": "cd ./api-server && npm run develop",
+    "docker:run-once": "npm run docker:init && npm run docker:install && npm run docker:seed",
     "docker:clean": "docker-compose run -u root --rm freecodecamp bash -c \"rm -rf **/node_modules/* **/node_modules/..?* **/node_modules/.[!.]* node_modules/* node_modules/..?* node_modules/.[!.]*\"",
     "docker:develop": "docker-compose up client api-server",
     "docker:init": "docker-compose run -u root --rm freecodecamp bash change_volumes_owner.sh && docker-compose run -u root --rm client bash -c \"cd .. && bash change_volumes_owner.sh\" && docker-compose run -u root --rm api-server bash -c \"cd .. && bash change_volumes_owner.sh\"",
-    "docker:install": "docker-compose run -u root --rm freecodecamp bash patch_npm_and_install.sh",
+    "docker:install": "docker-compose run --rm freecodecamp npm ci",
     "docker:seed": "docker-compose run --rm freecodecamp npm run seed",
     "docker:test": "docker-compose -f docker-compose.tests.yml run --rm tests bash",
     "docker:test:init": "docker-compose -f docker-compose.tests.yml run -u root --rm tests bash change_volumes_owner.sh",
diff --git a/patch_npm_and_install.sh b/patch_npm_and_install.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index e32d3d3a2e..0000000000
--- a/patch_npm_and_install.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-patch /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/libcipm/index.js < libcimp_index_js.patch
-su node -c "npm ci"