diff --git a/apps/api/vitest.setup.ts b/apps/api/vitest.setup.ts
index b05036a..6156f98 100644
--- a/apps/api/vitest.setup.ts
+++ b/apps/api/vitest.setup.ts
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@ import * as fs from "fs";
 
 // Load environment variables from .env.test if it exists
 // This allows local integration tests to run with a local database
-// CI environments explicitly provide DATABASE_URL in the test step
+// CI environments explicitly provide DATABASE_URL in the test step, so skip loading .env.test there
 const envTestPath = path.resolve(__dirname, ".env.test");
-if (fs.existsSync(envTestPath)) {
+const isCI = process.env.CI === "true" || process.env.WOODPECKER === "true";
+
+if (!isCI && fs.existsSync(envTestPath)) {
   const result = dotenv.config({ path: envTestPath });
   if (result.error) {
     throw new Error(