diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 8b0d780ff..8acba572a 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
-const cors = require("cors");
+// Load environment variables THIS MUST BE AT THE TOP
 const path = require("path");
+require("dotenv").config({
+  path: path.resolve(process.cwd(), `.env.${process.env.NODE_ENV || "development"}`)
+});
+
+const cors = require("cors");
 const http = require("http");
 const Redis = require("ioredis");
 const express = require("express");
@@ -18,11 +23,6 @@ const { redisSocketEvents } = require("./server/web-sockets/redisSocketEvents");
 const { ElastiCacheClient, DescribeCacheClustersCommand } = require("@aws-sdk/client-elasticache");
 const { default: InstanceManager } = require("./server/utils/instanceMgr");
 
-// Load environment variables
-require("dotenv").config({
-  path: path.resolve(process.cwd(), `.env.${process.env.NODE_ENV || "development"}`)
-});
-
 const CLUSTER_RETRY_BASE_DELAY = 100;
 const CLUSTER_RETRY_MAX_DELAY = 5000;
 const CLUSTER_RETRY_JITTER = 100;
diff --git a/server/utils/logger.js b/server/utils/logger.js
index 8f3f1a47a..3a1742432 100644
--- a/server/utils/logger.js
+++ b/server/utils/logger.js
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+// Load environment variables THIS MUST BE AT THE TOP
+const path = require("path");
+require("dotenv").config({
+  path: path.resolve(process.cwd(), `.env.${process.env.NODE_ENV || "development"}`)
+});
+
 const InstanceManager = require("../utils/instanceMgr").default;
 const winston = require("winston");
 const WinstonCloudWatch = require("winston-cloudwatch");