diff --git a/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/prod.md b/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/prod.md
index 32cd916c9..35c8c575b 100644
--- a/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/prod.md
+++ b/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/prod.md
@@ -64,6 +64,12 @@ router_settings:
   redis_password: os.environ/REDIS_PASSWORD
 ```
 
+## 4. Disable 'load_dotenv'
+
+Set `export LITELLM_MODE="PRODUCTION"`
+
+This disables the load_dotenv() functionality, which will automatically load your environment credentials from the local `.env`. 
+
 ## Extras
 ### Expected Performance in Production
 
diff --git a/litellm/__init__.py b/litellm/__init__.py
index 4074c9e03..0db5d365a 100644
--- a/litellm/__init__.py
+++ b/litellm/__init__.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from litellm.proxy._types import (
 import httpx
 import dotenv
 
-litellm_mode = os.getenv("LITELLM_PRODUCTION_MODE", "DEV")  # "PRODUCTION", "DEV"
+litellm_mode = os.getenv("LITELLM_MODE", "DEV")  # "PRODUCTION", "DEV"
 if litellm_mode == "DEV":
     dotenv.load_dotenv()
 #############################################
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py b/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
index f1d0b52e2..50eca5ecb 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ sys.path.append(os.getcwd())
 
 config_filename = "litellm.secrets"
 
-litellm_mode = os.getenv("LITELLM_PRODUCTION_MODE", "DEV")  # "PRODUCTION", "DEV"
+litellm_mode = os.getenv("LITELLM_MODE", "DEV")  # "PRODUCTION", "DEV"
 if litellm_mode == "DEV":
     load_dotenv()
 from importlib import resources