diff --git a/config/nginx/conf.d/cantusdb.conf.development b/config/nginx/conf.d/cantusdb.conf.development
index 972c91519..25ec86df2 100644
--- a/config/nginx/conf.d/cantusdb.conf.development
+++ b/config/nginx/conf.d/cantusdb.conf.development
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ server {
         proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
         proxy_set_header Host $host;
         proxy_redirect off;
+        proxy_intercept_errors on;
     }
 
     location /static {
@@ -24,17 +25,10 @@ server {
         expires modified +24h;
     }
 
-    error_page 500 /500.html;
-    location = /500.html {
-        root /;
-    }
-
-    error_page 502 /502.html;
-    location = /502.html {
-        root /;
-    }
-    error_page 504 /504.html;
-    location = /504.html {
+    error_page 500 /error_pages/500.html;
+    error_page 502 /error_pages/502.html;
+    error_page 504 /error_pages/504.html;
+    location /error_pages {
         root /;
     }
 }
diff --git a/nginx/Dockerfile b/nginx/Dockerfile
index 080a18815..fa8b1fdb6 100644
--- a/nginx/Dockerfile
+++ b/nginx/Dockerfile
@@ -6,5 +6,4 @@ RUN curl -LJO https://github.com/go-acme/lego/releases/download/v4.14.2/lego_v4.
     mv lego /usr/local/bin/lego && \
     rm lego_v4.14.2_linux_amd64.tar.gz
 RUN mkdir -p /var/www/lego
-COPY error_pages .
-COPY password/.htpasswd /etc/nginx/.htpasswd
\ No newline at end of file
+COPY error_pages /error_pages
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nginx/password/.htpasswd b/nginx/password/.htpasswd
deleted file mode 100644
index 4453f326c..000000000
--- a/nginx/password/.htpasswd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-# Note: This file is intentionally empty for development and production environments. It will be replaced with a file containing a hashed password on the staging server by ansible.
\ No newline at end of file