diff --git a/.github/workflows/cd_dev.yaml b/.github/workflows/cd_dev.yaml
index 433eebb9..c11bb8e4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cd_dev.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cd_dev.yaml
@@ -56,4 +56,4 @@ jobs:
           git stash
           git pull
           npm install
-          pm2 start --node-args="--env-file-if-exists=.env" -i max bin/rerum_v1.js
+          pm2 startOrReload ecosystem.config.json --env development
diff --git a/.github/workflows/cd_prod.yaml b/.github/workflows/cd_prod.yaml
index 597abef2..09a685c4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cd_prod.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cd_prod.yaml
@@ -55,4 +55,4 @@ jobs:
           git stash
           git pull
           npm install
-          pm2 start --node-args="--env-file-if-exists=.env" -i max bin/rerum_v1.js
+          pm2 startOrReload ecosystem.config.json --env production
diff --git a/bin/rerum_v1.js b/bin/rerum_v1.js
index 9724270d..0585afc9 100644
--- a/bin/rerum_v1.js
+++ b/bin/rerum_v1.js
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
+// Must be the first import: populates process.env from .env synchronously
+// before any other module reads it. See env-loader.js for why this lives
+// here instead of being injected via PM2 `node_args`.
+import '../env-loader.js'
+
 /**
  * Module dependencies.
  */
diff --git a/ecosystem.config.json b/ecosystem.config.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4ff8f9a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ecosystem.config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/pm2-ecosystem.json",
+  "apps": [
+    {
+      "name": "rerum_v1",
+      "script": "./bin/rerum_v1.js",
+      "instances": "max",
+      "exec_mode": "cluster",
+      "env_development": { "NODE_ENV": "development" },
+      "env_production": { "NODE_ENV": "production" },
+      "listen_timeout": 10000,
+      "kill_timeout": 5000,
+      "wait_ready": false,
+      "max_memory_restart": "500M",
+      "log_date_format": "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss Z",
+      "merge_logs": true,
+      "autorestart": true,
+      "max_restarts": 10,
+      "min_uptime": "10s"
+    }
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/env-loader.js b/env-loader.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eda0db68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/env-loader.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/**
+ * Environment Variable Loader
+ *
+ * Preloads variables from a `.env` file into `process.env` before any
+ * application module reads them. Runs synchronously as a side-effect import.
+ *
+ * Two entry points use this loader, by design:
+ *   1. The app entry script `bin/rerum_v1.js` imports this file FIRST,
+ *      before any other module. Because ES module imports evaluate in
+ *      source order, this guarantees `process.env` is populated before
+ *      `app.js` (or anything it pulls in) reads it. This is the path used
+ *      under PM2 in development and production, and it is independent of
+ *      PM2's `node_args` / cluster-worker `execArgv` plumbing — which was
+ *      observed not to fire reliably on the RHEL servers
+ *      (vlcdhp02 / vlcdhprdp02).
+ *   2. The test/coverage scripts in `package.json` pass it via
+ *      `node --import ./env-loader.js`, because tests do not go through
+ *      `bin/rerum_v1.js`.
+ *
+ * Replaces the previous `--env-file-if-exists=.env` Node CLI flag, which
+ * was unreliable on the RHEL servers under PM2.
+ *
+ * Behavior:
+ *   - Resolves `.env` against this file's own directory (via
+ *     `import.meta.url`), NOT `process.cwd()`. PM2 cluster workers on
+ *     RHEL have shown inconsistent cwd handling; anchoring to the file
+ *     location guarantees the same `.env` is found regardless of where
+ *     the process was launched from.
+ *   - Permissive: if `.env` is missing, logs a warning and continues
+ *     with whatever is already in `process.env`.
+ *   - Non-destructive: does NOT overwrite keys already set in
+ *     `process.env`, so PM2-injected env, CI secrets, and shell exports
+ *     still take precedence.
+ *   - Strips a leading UTF-8 BOM (U+FEFF) if present, so `.env` files
+ *     saved by Windows editors do not lose their first key.
+ *   - No external dependency — uses only `node:fs`, `node:path`, and
+ *     `node:url`.
+ */
+
+import { readFileSync, existsSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { dirname, resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+
+const RESET = '\x1b[0m'
+const YELLOW = '\x1b[33m'
+const GREEN = '\x1b[32m'
+const CYAN = '\x1b[36m'
+
+const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
+const envPath = resolve(__dirname, '.env')
+
+if (!existsSync(envPath)) {
+  console.warn(`${YELLOW}[env-loader] .env not found at ${envPath} — continuing with existing process.env${RESET}`)
+} else {
+  let loaded = 0
+  let skipped = 0
+  let contents = readFileSync(envPath, 'utf8')
+  if (contents.charCodeAt(0) === 0xFEFF) contents = contents.slice(1)
+  for (const raw of contents.split(/\r?\n/)) {
+    const line = raw.trim()
+    if (!line || line.startsWith('#')) continue
+    const eq = line.indexOf('=')
+    if (eq === -1) continue
+    const key = line.slice(0, eq).trim()
+    if (!key) continue
+    let val = line.slice(eq + 1).trim()
+    if (
+      (val.startsWith('"') && val.endsWith('"')) ||
+      (val.startsWith("'") && val.endsWith("'"))
+    ) {
+      val = val.slice(1, -1)
+    }
+    if (key in process.env) {
+      skipped++
+      continue
+    }
+    process.env[key] = val
+    loaded++
+  }
+  console.log(`${GREEN}[env-loader] loaded ${loaded} vars from ${envPath}${RESET}${skipped ? ` ${CYAN}(skipped ${skipped} already set)${RESET}` : ''}`)
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e69f1f99..4a6c336f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@
     "npm": ">=11.0.0"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "start": "node --env-file-if-exists=.env ./bin/rerum_v1.js",
-    "test": "node --env-file-if-exists=.env --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test --test-skip-pattern='@e2e' __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
-    "test:ci": "node --env-file-if-exists=.env --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
-    "test:e2e": "node --env-file-if-exists=.env --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test --test-name-pattern='@e2e' __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
-    "coverage": "c8 --reporter=html --reporter=text --include='db-controller.js' --include='routes/**/*.js' --exclude='**/__tests__/**' node --env-file-if-exists=.env --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test --test-skip-pattern='@e2e' __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
-    "coverage:ci": "c8 --reporter=html --reporter=json --reporter=text --include='db-controller.js' --include='routes/**/*.js' --exclude='**/__tests__/**' node --env-file-if-exists=.env --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js"
+    "start": "node --import ./env-loader.js ./bin/rerum_v1.js",
+    "test": "node --import ./env-loader.js --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test --test-skip-pattern='@e2e' __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
+    "test:ci": "node --import ./env-loader.js --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
+    "test:e2e": "node --import ./env-loader.js --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test --test-name-pattern='@e2e' __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
+    "coverage": "c8 --reporter=html --reporter=text --include='db-controller.js' --include='routes/**/*.js' --exclude='**/__tests__/**' node --import ./env-loader.js --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test --test-skip-pattern='@e2e' __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js",
+    "coverage:ci": "c8 --reporter=html --reporter=json --reporter=text --include='db-controller.js' --include='routes/**/*.js' --exclude='**/__tests__/**' node --import ./env-loader.js --import ./test/bootstrap.js --test __tests__/*.test.js routes/__tests__/*.test.js auth/__tests__/*.test.js"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "cookie-parser": "~1.4.7",
diff --git a/routes/__tests__/route_wrappers.test.js b/routes/__tests__/route_wrappers.test.js
index a5f95d6a..e4522a83 100644
--- a/routes/__tests__/route_wrappers.test.js
+++ b/routes/__tests__/route_wrappers.test.js
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ import searchRouter from '../search.js'
 import queryRouter from '../query.js'
 import releaseRouter from '../release.js'
 import apiRoutesRouter from '../api-routes.js'
+import gogFragmentsRouter from '../_gog_fragments_from_manuscript.js'
+import gogGlossesRouter from '../_gog_glosses_from_manuscript.js'
 
 function getRoute(router, path) {
   const routeLayer = router.stack.find(layer => layer.route?.path === path)
@@ -206,7 +208,9 @@ describe('unsupported-method 405 fallbacks', () => {
     { label: '/delete/:_id',    router: deleteRouter,     path: '/:_id' },
     { label: '/history/:_id',   router: historyRouter,    path: '/:_id' },
     { label: '/id/:_id',        router: idRouter,         path: '/:_id' },
-    { label: '/since/:_id',     router: sinceRouter,      path: '/:_id' }
+    { label: '/since/:_id',     router: sinceRouter,      path: '/:_id' },
+    { label: '/_gog_fragments_from_manuscript', router: gogFragmentsRouter, path: '/' },
+    { label: '/_gog_glosses_from_manuscript',   router: gogGlossesRouter,   path: '/' }
   ]
 
   for (const { label, router, path } of cases) {
diff --git a/routes/_gog_fragments_from_manuscript.js b/routes/_gog_fragments_from_manuscript.js
index d1f30193..109bd9dd 100644
--- a/routes/_gog_fragments_from_manuscript.js
+++ b/routes/_gog_fragments_from_manuscript.js
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ router.route('/')
     .post(auth.checkJwt, controller._gog_fragments_from_manuscript)
     .all((req, res, next) => {
         res.statusMessage = 'Improper request method.  Please use POST.'
-        res.status(405)
-        next(res)
+        res.status(405).end()
     })
 
 export default router
diff --git a/routes/_gog_glosses_from_manuscript.js b/routes/_gog_glosses_from_manuscript.js
index e5c57659..4d80970a 100644
--- a/routes/_gog_glosses_from_manuscript.js
+++ b/routes/_gog_glosses_from_manuscript.js
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ router.route('/')
     .post(auth.checkJwt, controller._gog_glosses_from_manuscript)
     .all((req, res, next) => {
         res.statusMessage = 'Improper request method.  Please use POST.'
-        res.status(405)
-        next(res)
+        res.status(405).end()
     })
 
 export default router
\ No newline at end of file