diff --git a/playwright.config.ts b/playwright.config.ts
index 70a7096..fd47133 100644
--- a/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/playwright.config.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ export default defineConfig({
 
   webServer: {
     // Use plain Next.js dev server for E2E (no Docker dependency)
-    command: 'npm run dev:next',
+    // Force NODE_ENV=development to avoid Edge runtime eval issues in middleware bundle
+    command: 'NODE_ENV=development npm run dev:next',
     url: 'http://localhost:3000',
     reuseExistingServer: true, // Always reuse if server is running
     timeout: 120 * 1000,