diff --git a/services/mam-api/src/index.js b/services/mam-api/src/index.js
index 42bd169..9593a59 100644
--- a/services/mam-api/src/index.js
+++ b/services/mam-api/src/index.js
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ await loadS3ConfigFromDb();
 // ── Cluster self-heartbeat ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // Registers this node in cluster_nodes every 30 s so the Cluster page shows it.
 function getLocalIp() {
+  // Prefer an explicit override — useful when running inside Docker where
+  // os.networkInterfaces() returns container bridge IPs, not the host LAN IP.
+  if (process.env.NODE_IP) return process.env.NODE_IP;
+
   const ifaces = os.networkInterfaces();
   for (const name of Object.keys(ifaces)) {
     for (const iface of (ifaces[name] || [])) {