diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index 224689f..d53e910 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -20,9 +20,7 @@ def create_app():
     app = Flask(__name__)
 
     # Configure the database
-    # Use 'db' as host when running in Docker, 'localhost' for local development
-    db_host = 'db' if os.getenv('DOCKER_ENV') else 'localhost'
-    app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = os.getenv('DATABASE_URL', f'postgresql://postgres:1253@{db_host}:5432/docupulse')
+    app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = os.getenv('DATABASE_URL')
     app.config['SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS'] = False
     app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = os.getenv('SECRET_KEY', 'your-secret-key-here')
     app.config['UPLOAD_FOLDER'] = os.path.join(app.root_path, 'static', 'uploads')
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 9060a04..99da74d 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ services:
       - ./uploads:/app/uploads
     env_file:
       - stack.env
-    environment:
-      - DOCKER_ENV=true
     depends_on:
       - db
 
diff --git a/stack.env b/stack.env
index 4aa6b9c..fcf6bb4 100644
--- a/stack.env
+++ b/stack.env
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 FLASK_APP=app.py
 FLASK_ENV=production
 UPLOAD_FOLDER=/app/uploads
-DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:1253@localhost:5432/docupulse
+DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:1253@db:5432/docupulse
 SECRET_KEY=your-secure-secret-key-here
 
 # Database service environment variables