diff --git a/packages/db/src/drizzle.ts b/packages/db/src/drizzle.ts
index 0daa4d63..b990905b 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/drizzle.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/drizzle.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,38 @@
 import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/postgres-js'
+import type { PostgresJsDatabase } from 'drizzle-orm/postgres-js'
 import postgres from 'postgres'
 import * as schema from './schema'
 
-if (!process.env.POSTGRES_URL) {
-  throw new Error(
-    'Missing POSTGRES_URL environment variable. Add your Supabase database connection string.',
-  )
+let _db: PostgresJsDatabase<typeof schema> | null = null
+let _client: ReturnType<typeof postgres> | null = null
+
+function getDb() {
+  if (!_db) {
+    const postgresUrl = process.env.POSTGRES_URL
+
+    if (!postgresUrl) {
+      throw new Error(
+        'Missing POSTGRES_URL environment variable. Please configure it in your deployment settings or .env.local file.',
+      )
+    }
+
+    // Create postgres connection
+    _client = postgres(postgresUrl)
+
+    // Create drizzle instance
+    _db = drizzle(_client, { schema })
+  }
+  return _db
 }
 
-// Create postgres connection
-const client = postgres(process.env.POSTGRES_URL)
-
-// Create drizzle instance
-export const db = drizzle(client, { schema })
+/**
+ * Drizzle database instance
+ * Initialized lazily to avoid requiring env vars at build time
+ */
+export const db = new Proxy({} as PostgresJsDatabase<typeof schema>, {
+  get(_target, prop) {
+    return Reflect.get(getDb(), prop)
+  },
+})
 
 export type Database = typeof db