diff --git a/docker/.env b/docker/.env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b9d7625f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost
+APPRISE_ENABLED=False
+DB=postgres
+DB_CONN_MAX_AGE=0
+DB_HOST=db
+DB_NAME=hc
+DB_PASSWORD=fixme-postgres-password
+DB_PORT=5432
+DB_SSLMODE=prefer
+DB_TARGET_SESSION_ATTRS=read-write
+DB_USER=postgres
+DEBUG=False
+DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL=healthchecks@example.org
+DISCORD_CLIENT_ID=
+DISCORD_CLIENT_SECRET=
+EMAIL_HOST=
+EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=
+EMAIL_HOST_USER=
+EMAIL_PORT=587
+EMAIL_USE_TLS=True
+EMAIL_USE_VERIFICATION=True
+LINENOTIFY_CLIENT_ID=
+LINENOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET=
+MASTER_BADGE_LABEL=Mychecks
+MATRIX_ACCESS_TOKEN=
+MATRIX_HOMESERVER=
+MATRIX_USER_ID=
+PD_VENDOR_KEY=
+PING_BODY_LIMIT=10000
+PING_EMAIL_DOMAIN=localhost
+PING_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:8000/ping/
+PUSHBULLET_CLIENT_ID=
+PUSHBULLET_CLIENT_SECRET=
+PUSHOVER_API_TOKEN=
+PUSHOVER_EMERGENCY_EXPIRATION=86400
+PUSHOVER_EMERGENCY_RETRY_DELAY=300
+PUSHOVER_SUBSCRIPTION_URL=
+REGISTRATION_OPEN=True
+REMOTE_USER_HEADER=
+RP_ID=
+SECRET_KEY=
+SHELL_ENABLED=False
+SIGNAL_CLI_ENABLED=False
+SITE_NAME=Mychecks
+SITE_ROOT=http://localhost:8000
+SLACK_CLIENT_ID=
+SLACK_CLIENT_SECRET=
+TELEGRAM_BOT_NAME=ExampleBot
+TELEGRAM_TOKEN=
+TRELLO_APP_KEY=
+TWILIO_ACCOUNT=
+TWILIO_AUTH=
+TWILIO_FROM=
+TWILIO_USE_WHATSAPP=False
+USE_PAYMENTS=False
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.yml b/docker/docker-compose.yml
index e4bb5da1..52a6c42b 100644
--- a/docker/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -8,24 +8,14 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql
     environment:
-      - POSTGRES_DB=hc
-      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=fixme-postgres-password
+      - POSTGRES_DB=$DB_NAME
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$DB_PASSWORD
   web:
     build:
         context: ..
         dockerfile: docker/Dockerfile
-    environment:
-        - DEBUG=False
-        - DB=postgres
-        - DB_HOST=db
-        - DB_PORT=5432
-        - DB_PASSWORD=fixme-postgres-password
-        - DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL=healthchecks@example.org
-        - EMAIL_HOST=fixme-smtp-server.example.org
-        - EMAIL_HOST_USER=fixme-smtp-username
-        - EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=fixme-smtp-password
-        - SECRET_KEY=fixme-secret-key
-        - SITE_ROOT=http://localhost:8000
+    env_file:
+        - .env
     ports:
         - 8000:8000
     depends_on:
diff --git a/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.html b/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.html
index 19d5b63d..bc7835b4 100644
--- a/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.html
+++ b/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.html
@@ -12,8 +12,15 @@ SSL-terminating load balancer or reverse proxy in front of it.</p>
 <ul>
 <li>Grab the Healthchecks source code
   <a href="https://github.com/healthchecks/healthchecks">from the Github repository</a>.</li>
-<li>Edit the <code>/docker/docker-compose.yml</code> file; add your SMTP credentials
-  and any other needed <a href="../self_hosted_configuration/">environment variables</a>.</li>
+<li>Add your <a href="../self_hosted_configuration/">configuration</a> in the <code>/docker/.env</code> file.
+  As a minimum, set the following fields:<ul>
+<li><code>DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL</code> – the "From:" address for outbound emails</li>
+<li><code>EMAIL_HOST</code> – the SMTP server</li>
+<li><code>EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD</code> – the SMTP password</li>
+<li><code>EMAIL_HOST_USER</code> – the SMTP username</li>
+<li><code>SECRET_KEY</code> – secures HTTP sessions, set to a random value</li>
+</ul>
+</li>
 <li>
 <p>Create and start containers:</p>
 <div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>$ <span class="nb">cd</span> docker
diff --git a/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.md b/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.md
index 4b8ec392..863afdaa 100644
--- a/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.md
+++ b/templates/docs/self_hosted_docker.md
@@ -16,8 +16,13 @@ SSL-terminating load balancer or reverse proxy in front of it.
 
 * Grab the Healthchecks source code
   [from the Github repository](https://github.com/healthchecks/healthchecks).
-* Edit the `/docker/docker-compose.yml` file; add your SMTP credentials
-  and any other needed [environment variables](../self_hosted_configuration/).
+* Add your [configuration](../self_hosted_configuration/) in the `/docker/.env` file.
+  As a minimum, set the following fields:
+    * `DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL` – the "From:" address for outbound emails
+    * `EMAIL_HOST` – the SMTP server
+    * `EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD` – the SMTP password
+    * `EMAIL_HOST_USER` – the SMTP username
+    * `SECRET_KEY` – secures HTTP sessions, set to a random value
 * Create and start containers:
 
         $ cd docker