diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
index c642786..d610c4a 100644
--- a/.envrc
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ if [ ! -f node.privatekey ]; then
   DOCKER_DEFAULT_PLATFORM=linux/amd64 docker run --rm -it docker.io/parity/subkey:latest generate-node-key  | sed -n '2p' > midnight-node.privatekey
   # Use the second line of output for NODE_KEY (that's what sed -n '2p' does)
 fi
-export NODE_KEY="$(cat ./midnight-node.privatekey)"
+export NODE_KEY_FILE="./midnight-node.privatekey"
 
 #
 # Partner chains config:
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6f1c976..da64900 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## 🚀 Features
 
+- Recommended to use NODE_KEY_FILE rather than NODE_KEY
 - Cardano's ipc socket file is now stored in a docker volume so when stale can be recreated on all OSes.
 - `cardano-cli.sh`, `midnight-node.sh` and `midnight-shell.sh` execute within the running container.
 - Switch networks by altering CFG_PRESET only
diff --git a/compose.yml b/compose.yml
index af88c53..12f7e3e 100644
--- a/compose.yml
+++ b/compose.yml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ services:
       - BOOTNODES=${BOOTNODES}
       - CFG_PRESET=${CFG_PRESET}
       - DB_SYNC_POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING=${DB_SYNC_POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING}
-      - NODE_KEY=${NODE_KEY}
+      - NODE_KEY_FILE=/midnight-node.privatekey
     healthcheck:
       test: [ "CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:9944/health" ]
       interval: 2s
@@ -38,3 +38,4 @@ services:
       - ./data:/data
       - ./envs/${CFG_PRESET}/pc-chain-config.json:/pc-chain-config.json
       - midnight-data-testnet:/node
+      - ${NODE_KEY_FILE}:/midnight-node.privatekey:ro