diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
index c0e119e1..0164f9d3 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yaml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ jobs:
           export NODE_ENV=production
           export SKIP_ENV_VALIDATION=1
           pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+          export DATABASE_URL="mysql://placeholder:please@localhost/placeholder"
           pnpm prisma:generate
           pnpm build
           pm2 restart next --update-env
@@ -335,6 +336,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "STAGE DATABASE_POOL_SIZE=${DATABASE_POOL_SIZE}"
 
           pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+          export DATABASE_URL="${DEPLOY_DATABASE_URL:-mysql://placeholder:please@localhost/placeholder}"
           # prisma generate does not need a live DB connection.
           pnpm prisma:generate
           export BCRYPT_ROUNDS=4