diff --git a/packages/dashboard/.env b/packages/dashboard/.env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3b030c27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/dashboard/.env
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+SKYNET_PORTAL_API=https://siasky.net
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/.gitignore b/packages/dashboard/.gitignore
index 173ca174..ea47d16a 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/.gitignore
+++ b/packages/dashboard/.gitignore
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ npm-debug.log*
 yarn-debug.log*
 yarn-error.log*
 
+# env defaults
+!.env
+
 # local env files
 .env.local
 .env.development.local
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/pages/downloads.js b/packages/dashboard/src/pages/downloads.js
index 256ef215..763c6726 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/pages/downloads.js
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/pages/downloads.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import Table from "../components/Table";
 import authServerSideProps from "../services/authServerSideProps";
 import { SkynetClient } from "skynet-js";
 
-const skynetClient = new SkynetClient(process.env.SKYNET_PORTAL_API ?? "https://siasky.net");
+const skynetClient = new SkynetClient(process.env.SKYNET_PORTAL_API);
 const apiPrefix = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? "/api/stubs" : "";
 const fetcher = (url) => fetch(url).then((r) => r.json());
 const getSkylinkLink = ({ skylink }) => skynetClient.getSkylinkUrl(skylink);
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/pages/index.js b/packages/dashboard/src/pages/index.js
index bc2ecef6..c8124e4d 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/pages/index.js
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/pages/index.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { SkynetClient } from "skynet-js";
 
 dayjs.extend(relativeTime);
 
-const skynetClient = new SkynetClient(process.env.SKYNET_PORTAL_API ?? "https://siasky.net");
+const skynetClient = new SkynetClient(process.env.SKYNET_PORTAL_API);
 const apiPrefix = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? "/api/stubs" : "";
 const fetcher = (url) => fetch(url).then((r) => r.json());
 
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/src/pages/uploads.js b/packages/dashboard/src/pages/uploads.js
index 125f2f69..6bcf7a45 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/src/pages/uploads.js
+++ b/packages/dashboard/src/pages/uploads.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import Table from "../components/Table";
 import authServerSideProps from "../services/authServerSideProps";
 import { SkynetClient } from "skynet-js";
 
-const skynetClient = new SkynetClient(process.env.SKYNET_PORTAL_API ?? "https://siasky.net");
+const skynetClient = new SkynetClient(process.env.SKYNET_PORTAL_API);
 const apiPrefix = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? "/api/stubs" : "";
 const fetcher = (url) => fetch(url).then((r) => r.json());
 const getSkylinkLink = ({ skylink }) => skynetClient.getSkylinkUrl(skylink);