diff --git a/.changeset/silent-clocks-give.md b/.changeset/silent-clocks-give.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cb5ee1f7a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/silent-clocks-give.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@medusajs/cli": patch
+---
+
+fix(cli): If NODE_ENV is not defined then default to "production" for medusa start
diff --git a/packages/cli/medusa-cli/src/create-cli.ts b/packages/cli/medusa-cli/src/create-cli.ts
index 14c2c38dc3..1490e336a9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/medusa-cli/src/create-cli.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/medusa-cli/src/create-cli.ts
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ function buildLocalCommands(cli, isLocalProject) {
           }),
       handler: handlerP(
         getCommandHandler(`start`, (args, cmd) => {
-          process.env.NODE_ENV = process.env.NODE_ENV || `development`
+          process.env.NODE_ENV = process.env.NODE_ENV || `production`
           cmd(args)
           // Return an empty promise to prevent handlerP from exiting early.
           // The development server shouldn't ever exit until the user directly