diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 46ae04c4..43a6ac9f 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ RUN \
 FROM base AS runner
 WORKDIR /app
 # set the app version as an environment variable. Used in the github action
+# used in the init-db.sh script
 ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION
-ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION ${NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION}
 
 ENV NODE_ENV production
 # Uncomment the following line in case you want to disable telemetry during runtime.
diff --git a/src/components/modules/footer.tsx b/src/components/modules/footer.tsx
index 597f84a9..f5f8dd31 100644
--- a/src/components/modules/footer.tsx
+++ b/src/components/modules/footer.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import React from "react";
+import { globalSiteVersion } from "~/utils/global";
 
 const Footer = () => (
   <footer className="hidden px-4 py-6 sm:block">
@@ -11,10 +12,8 @@ const Footer = () => (
           by Bernt Christian Egeland / aka @sinamics
         </a>
       </p>
-      {process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION ? (
-        <p className="text-right text-sm text-gray-600">
-          {process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION}
-        </p>
+      {globalSiteVersion ? (
+        <p className="text-right text-sm text-gray-600">{globalSiteVersion}</p>
       ) : (
         <div></div>
       )}
diff --git a/src/utils/global.ts b/src/utils/global.ts
index b7e5e767..a13d2ea6 100644
--- a/src/utils/global.ts
+++ b/src/utils/global.ts
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 // If it is not set, use the default value "Next ZTnet".
 export const globalSiteTitle =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_NAME || "Next ZTnet";
+
+export const globalSiteVersion = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION || null;