diff --git a/backend/pricing-engine/src/db/connection.ts b/backend/pricing-engine/src/db/connection.ts
index ba039c36..57b88528 100644
--- a/backend/pricing-engine/src/db/connection.ts
+++ b/backend/pricing-engine/src/db/connection.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,28 @@
 import mysql, { RowDataPacket, ResultSetHeader } from 'mysql2/promise';
 import dotenv from 'dotenv';
 import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'fs';
 
-dotenv.config({ path: path.resolve(__dirname, '../../.env') });
+// Find the correct .env file (mimicking PHP bootstrap.php logic)
+const possibleEnvPaths = [
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '../../../.env'), // backend/.env
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '../../../../.env'), // root/.env
+  process.env.HOME ? path.resolve(process.env.HOME, '.env') : '', // /home/user/.env
+].filter(Boolean);
+
+let envLoaded = false;
+for (const envPath of possibleEnvPaths) {
+  if (fs.existsSync(envPath)) {
+    dotenv.config({ path: envPath });
+    console.log(`Loaded environment from: ${envPath}`);
+    envLoaded = true;
+    break;
+  }
+}
+
+if (!envLoaded) {
+  console.warn('⚠️ No .env file found. Falling back to default environment variables.');
+}
 
 let mysqlPool: mysql.Pool | null = null;