diff --git a/node-src/lib/getEnv.ts b/node-src/lib/getEnv.ts
index 54f3e3fe5..860313129 100644
--- a/node-src/lib/getEnv.ts
+++ b/node-src/lib/getEnv.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export interface Env {
   STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT: number;
   STORYBOOK_CLI_FLAGS_BY_VERSION: typeof STORYBOOK_CLI_FLAGS_BY_VERSION;
   STORYBOOK_VERIFY_TIMEOUT: number;
+  STORYBOOK_NODE_ENV: string;
 }
 
 const {
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ const {
   LOGGLY_CUSTOMER_TOKEN = 'b5e26204-cdc5-4c78-a9cc-c69eb7fabad3',
   STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT = String(10 * 60 * 1000),
   STORYBOOK_VERIFY_TIMEOUT = String(3 * 60 * 1000),
+  STORYBOOK_NODE_ENV = 'production',
 } = process.env;
 
 const ENVIRONMENT_WHITELIST = [/^GERRIT/, /^TRAVIS/];
@@ -70,4 +72,5 @@ export default () =>
     STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT: parseInt(STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT, 10),
     STORYBOOK_CLI_FLAGS_BY_VERSION,
     STORYBOOK_VERIFY_TIMEOUT: parseInt(STORYBOOK_VERIFY_TIMEOUT, 10),
+    STORYBOOK_NODE_ENV,
   } as Env);
diff --git a/node-src/tasks/build.test.ts b/node-src/tasks/build.test.ts
index c5b59741d..ea466c8db 100644
--- a/node-src/tasks/build.test.ts
+++ b/node-src/tasks/build.test.ts
@@ -3,11 +3,16 @@ import mockfs from 'mock-fs';
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 
 import { buildStorybook, setSourceDir, setBuildCommand } from './build';
+import { beforeEach } from 'node:test';
 
 vi.mock('execa');
 
 const command = vi.mocked(execaCommand);
 
+beforeEach(() => {
+  command.mockClear();
+})
+
 afterEach(() => {
   mockfs.restore();
 });
@@ -132,4 +137,32 @@ describe('buildStorybook', () => {
     await expect(buildStorybook(ctx)).rejects.toThrow('Command failed');
     expect(ctx.log.error).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining('Operation timed out'));
   });
+
+  it('passes NODE_ENV=production', async () => {
+    const ctx = {
+      buildCommand: 'npm run build:storybook --script-args',
+      env: { STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT: 1000 },
+      log: { debug: vi.fn() },
+      options: { storybookLogFile: 'build-storybook.log' },
+    } as any;
+    await buildStorybook(ctx);
+    expect(command).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      ctx.buildCommand,
+      expect.objectContaining({ env: { NODE_ENV: 'production'} })
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('allows overriding NODE_ENV with STORYBOOK_NODE_ENV', async () => {
+    const ctx = {
+      buildCommand: 'npm run build:storybook --script-args',
+      env: { STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT: 1000, STORYBOOK_NODE_ENV: 'test' },
+      log: { debug: vi.fn() },
+      options: { storybookLogFile: 'build-storybook.log' },
+    } as any;
+    await buildStorybook(ctx);
+    expect(command).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      ctx.buildCommand,
+      expect.objectContaining({ env: { NODE_ENV: 'test'} })
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/node-src/tasks/build.ts b/node-src/tasks/build.ts
index 6a17e1d6a..64a7236da 100644
--- a/node-src/tasks/build.ts
+++ b/node-src/tasks/build.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ export const buildStorybook = async (ctx: Context) => {
     const subprocess = execaCommand(ctx.buildCommand, {
       stdio: [null, logFile, logFile],
       signal,
-      env: { NODE_ENV: 'production' },
+      env: { NODE_ENV: ctx.env.STORYBOOK_NODE_ENV  || 'production' },
     });
     await Promise.race([subprocess, timeoutAfter(ctx.env.STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT)]);
   } catch (e) {