diff --git a/app/Jobs/ApplicationDeploymentJob.php b/app/Jobs/ApplicationDeploymentJob.php
index 5dced0599..44e489976 100644
--- a/app/Jobs/ApplicationDeploymentJob.php
+++ b/app/Jobs/ApplicationDeploymentJob.php
@@ -652,11 +652,32 @@ private function deploy_docker_compose_buildpack()
         $this->save_buildtime_environment_variables();
 
         if ($this->docker_compose_custom_build_command) {
-            // Prepend DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 if BuildKit is supported
             $build_command = $this->docker_compose_custom_build_command;
+
+            // Inject --env-file flag if not already present in custom command
+            // This ensures build-time environment variables are available during the build
+            if (! str_contains($build_command, '--env-file')) {
+                $build_command = str_replace(
+                    'docker compose',
+                    'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env',
+                    $build_command
+                );
+            }
+
+            // Prepend DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 if BuildKit is supported
             if ($this->dockerBuildkitSupported) {
                 $build_command = "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 {$build_command}";
             }
+
+            // Append build arguments if not using build secrets (matching default behavior)
+            if (! $this->application->settings->use_build_secrets && $this->build_args instanceof \Illuminate\Support\Collection && $this->build_args->isNotEmpty()) {
+                $build_args_string = $this->build_args->implode(' ');
+                // Escape single quotes for bash -c context used by executeInDocker
+                $build_args_string = str_replace("'", "'\\''", $build_args_string);
+                $build_command .= " {$build_args_string}";
+                $this->application_deployment_queue->addLogEntry('Adding build arguments to custom Docker Compose build command.');
+            }
+
             $this->execute_remote_command(
                 [executeInDocker($this->deployment_uuid, "cd {$this->basedir} && {$build_command}"), 'hidden' => true],
             );
diff --git a/resources/views/livewire/project/application/general.blade.php b/resources/views/livewire/project/application/general.blade.php
index c95260efe..415a1d378 100644
--- a/resources/views/livewire/project/application/general.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/livewire/project/application/general.blade.php
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ class="underline" href="https://coolify.io/docs/knowledge-base/docker/registry"
                                     <div class="flex gap-2">
                                         <x-forms.input x-bind:disabled="shouldDisable()"
                                             placeholder="docker compose build" id="dockerComposeCustomBuildCommand"
-                                            helper="If you use this, you need to specify paths relatively and should use the same compose file in the custom command, otherwise the automatically configured labels / etc won't work.<br><br>So in your case, use: <span class='dark:text-warning'>docker compose -f .{{ Str::start($application->base_directory . $application->docker_compose_location, '/') }} build</span>"
+                                            helper="If you use this, you need to specify paths relatively and should use the same compose file in the custom command, otherwise the automatically configured labels / etc won't work.<br><br>Environment variables are automatically injected via <span class='dark:text-warning'>--env-file</span> flag. If you need custom env handling, include your own <span class='dark:text-warning'>--env-file</span> flag in the command.<br><br>So in your case, use: <span class='dark:text-warning'>docker compose -f .{{ Str::start($application->base_directory . $application->docker_compose_location, '/') }} build</span>"
                                             label="Custom Build Command" />
                                         <x-forms.input x-bind:disabled="shouldDisable()"
                                             placeholder="docker compose up -d" id="dockerComposeCustomStartCommand"
diff --git a/tests/Unit/ApplicationDeploymentCustomBuildCommandTest.php b/tests/Unit/ApplicationDeploymentCustomBuildCommandTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8d9d748ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/ApplicationDeploymentCustomBuildCommandTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Test to verify that custom Docker Compose build commands properly inject environment variables.
+ *
+ * This test suite verifies that when using a custom build command, the system automatically
+ * injects the --env-file flag to ensure build-time environment variables are available during
+ * the build process. This fixes the issue where environment variables were lost when using
+ * custom build commands.
+ *
+ * The fix ensures that:
+ * - --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env is automatically injected after 'docker compose'
+ * - Users can still provide their own --env-file flag to override the default behavior
+ * - Build arguments are appended when not using build secrets
+ */
+it('injects --env-file flag into custom build command', function () {
+    $customCommand = 'docker compose -f ./docker-compose.yaml build';
+
+    // Simulate the injection logic from ApplicationDeploymentJob
+    if (! str_contains($customCommand, '--env-file')) {
+        $customCommand = str_replace(
+            'docker compose',
+            'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env',
+            $customCommand
+        );
+    }
+
+    expect($customCommand)->toBe('docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env -f ./docker-compose.yaml build');
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('--env-file /artifacts/build-time.env');
+});
+
+it('does not duplicate --env-file flag when already present', function () {
+    $customCommand = 'docker compose --env-file /custom/.env -f ./docker-compose.yaml build';
+
+    // Simulate the injection logic from ApplicationDeploymentJob
+    if (! str_contains($customCommand, '--env-file')) {
+        $customCommand = str_replace(
+            'docker compose',
+            'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env',
+            $customCommand
+        );
+    }
+
+    expect($customCommand)->toBe('docker compose --env-file /custom/.env -f ./docker-compose.yaml build');
+    expect(substr_count($customCommand, '--env-file'))->toBe(1);
+});
+
+it('preserves custom build command structure with env-file injection', function () {
+    $customCommand = 'docker compose -f ./custom/path/docker-compose.prod.yaml build --no-cache';
+
+    // Simulate the injection logic from ApplicationDeploymentJob
+    if (! str_contains($customCommand, '--env-file')) {
+        $customCommand = str_replace(
+            'docker compose',
+            'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env',
+            $customCommand
+        );
+    }
+
+    expect($customCommand)->toBe('docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env -f ./custom/path/docker-compose.prod.yaml build --no-cache');
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('--env-file /artifacts/build-time.env');
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('-f ./custom/path/docker-compose.prod.yaml');
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('build --no-cache');
+});
+
+it('handles multiple docker compose commands in custom build command', function () {
+    // Edge case: Only the first 'docker compose' should get the env-file flag
+    $customCommand = 'docker compose -f ./docker-compose.yaml build';
+
+    // Simulate the injection logic from ApplicationDeploymentJob
+    if (! str_contains($customCommand, '--env-file')) {
+        $customCommand = str_replace(
+            'docker compose',
+            'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env',
+            $customCommand
+        );
+    }
+
+    // Note: str_replace replaces ALL occurrences, which is acceptable in this case
+    // since you typically only have one 'docker compose' command
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env');
+});
+
+it('verifies build args would be appended correctly', function () {
+    $customCommand = 'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env -f ./docker-compose.yaml build';
+    $buildArgs = collect([
+        '--build-arg NODE_ENV=production',
+        '--build-arg API_URL=https://api.example.com',
+    ]);
+
+    // Simulate build args appending logic
+    $buildArgsString = $buildArgs->implode(' ');
+    $buildArgsString = str_replace("'", "'\\''", $buildArgsString);
+    $customCommand .= " {$buildArgsString}";
+
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('--build-arg NODE_ENV=production');
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('--build-arg API_URL=https://api.example.com');
+    expect($customCommand)->toBe(
+        'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env -f ./docker-compose.yaml build --build-arg NODE_ENV=production --build-arg API_URL=https://api.example.com'
+    );
+});
+
+it('properly escapes single quotes in build args', function () {
+    $buildArg = "--build-arg MESSAGE='Hello World'";
+
+    // Simulate the escaping logic from ApplicationDeploymentJob
+    $escapedBuildArg = str_replace("'", "'\\''", $buildArg);
+
+    expect($escapedBuildArg)->toBe("--build-arg MESSAGE='\\''Hello World'\\''");
+});
+
+it('handles DOCKER_BUILDKIT prefix with env-file injection', function () {
+    $customCommand = 'docker compose -f ./docker-compose.yaml build';
+
+    // Simulate the injection logic from ApplicationDeploymentJob
+    if (! str_contains($customCommand, '--env-file')) {
+        $customCommand = str_replace(
+            'docker compose',
+            'docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env',
+            $customCommand
+        );
+    }
+
+    // Simulate BuildKit support
+    $dockerBuildkitSupported = true;
+    if ($dockerBuildkitSupported) {
+        $customCommand = "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 {$customCommand}";
+    }
+
+    expect($customCommand)->toBe('DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker compose --env-file /artifacts/build-time.env -f ./docker-compose.yaml build');
+    expect($customCommand)->toStartWith('DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1');
+    expect($customCommand)->toContain('--env-file /artifacts/build-time.env');
+});