diff --git a/frontend/Dockerfile b/frontend/Dockerfile
index 874ace92..6243fb71 100644
--- a/frontend/Dockerfile
+++ b/frontend/Dockerfile
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ COPY . .
 ENV VITE_RUN_CONFIG=${VITE_RUN_CONFIG}
 ENV VITE_SERVER_URL_HTTP=${VITE_SERVER_URL_HTTP}
 ENV VITE_SERVER_URL_WS=${VITE_SERVER_URL_WS}
+ENV IS_DOCKER=TRUE
 ENV PORT=5173
 EXPOSE 5173
 RUN if [ "$VITE_RUN_CONFIG" = "prod" ]; then npm run build-only; fi
diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.ts b/frontend/vite.config.ts
index b8cb2155..59938818 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@ import {fileURLToPath, URL} from 'node:url'
 import {defineConfig} from 'vite'
 import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'
 
+function  isNotDocker() {
+  const b = !process.env.IS_DOCKER
+  console.log('isDocker:', b)
+  return b
+}
+
 // https://vitejs.dev/config/
 export default defineConfig({
   plugins: [
@@ -19,11 +25,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     'process.env': process.env
   },
   server: {
-    // in order for hot module replacement to not throw an error inside the docker container
-    // (localhost would resolve to the container and not the host)
-    hmr: {
-      host: 'ws://host.docker.internal',
-      port: 80
-    }
+    // we do not need hmr in docker images + default address would not work (host: 'host.docker.internal' would be needed)
+    hmr: isNotDocker(),
   }
 })