diff --git a/vite.demo.config.ts b/vite.demo.config.ts
index 7a440a3..afe0c6b 100644
--- a/vite.demo.config.ts
+++ b/vite.demo.config.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ export default defineConfig(({ mode, command }) => {
 
   return {
     root: appRoot,
+    // Load `.env` / `.env.local` from the repo root. Vite's default is to
+    // read env files from `root`, which here points into `src/demo/apps/...`
+    // where no env files live — so without this VITE_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY
+    // never reaches the built bundle and ProviderMap silently falls back
+    // to its "no API key" empty state in production.
+    envDir: __dirname,
     // Dev server uses absolute base so HMR/asset URLs work at the root;
     // production build prefixes assets with /<slice>/ so the bundle is
     // portable to any nginx location matching that path.