diff --git a/frontend/Dockerfile b/frontend/Dockerfile
index 0d55c7e..2200211 100644
--- a/frontend/Dockerfile
+++ b/frontend/Dockerfile
@@ -13,10 +13,6 @@ RUN npm install
 # Copy the rest of the application
 COPY . .
 
-# Set the API URL for the build
-ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=/api
-ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL}
-
 # Build the Next.js application
 RUN npm run build
 
diff --git a/frontend/jest.setup.js b/frontend/jest.setup.js
index 16c8e94..c44951a 100644
--- a/frontend/jest.setup.js
+++ b/frontend/jest.setup.js
@@ -1,18 +1 @@
-import '@testing-library/jest-dom';
-import fetchMock from 'jest-fetch-mock';
-
-fetchMock.enableMocks();
-
-Object.defineProperty(window, 'matchMedia', {
-  writable: true,
-  value: jest.fn().mockImplementation(query => ({
-    matches: false,
-    media: query,
-    onchange: null,
-    addListener: jest.fn(), // deprecated
-    removeListener: jest.fn(), // deprecated
-    addEventListener: jest.fn(),
-    removeEventListener: jest.fn(),
-    dispatchEvent: jest.fn(),
-  })),
-});
+import '@testing-library/jest-dom'
diff --git a/frontend/next.config.ts b/frontend/next.config.ts
index c74c8ac..cb651cd 100644
--- a/frontend/next.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/next.config.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,5 @@
 import type { NextConfig } from "next";
 
-const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
-  async rewrites() {
-    const backendUrl = process.env.LETTERFEED_BACKEND_URL || "http://backend:8000";
-    return [
-      {
-        source: "/api/:path*",
-        destination: `${backendUrl}/:path*`,
-      },
-    ];
-  },
-};
+const nextConfig: NextConfig = {};
 
 export default nextConfig;
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/__tests__/api.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/__tests__/api.test.ts
index c71a699..869c5f5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/__tests__/api.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/__tests__/api.test.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ const mockFetchError = (data: any = {}, statusText = "Bad Request", status = 400
 }
 
 describe("API Functions", () => {
-  const API_BASE_URL = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL
+  const API_BASE_URL = '/api'
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     // Reset the mock before each test
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/api.ts b/frontend/src/lib/api.ts
index 9ecd97b..33af48d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/api.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/api.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const API_BASE_URL = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL;
+const API_BASE_URL = '/api';
 
 export interface Sender {
     id: string;
diff --git a/frontend/src/middleware.ts b/frontend/src/middleware.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e52bd92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/middleware.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+
+export function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
+  const backendUrl = process.env.LETTERFEED_BACKEND_URL || 'http://backend:8000';
+
+  if (request.nextUrl.pathname.startsWith('/api/')) {
+    const url = request.nextUrl.clone();
+    const path = url.pathname.replace('/api', '');
+    url.href = `${backendUrl}${path}${url.search}`;
+    return NextResponse.rewrite(url);
+  }
+
+  return NextResponse.next();
+}
+
+export const config = {
+  matcher: '/api/:path*',
+};