diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 48c2c711f..1d53ac28c 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -171,7 +171,15 @@ lazy val apiPublishSettings = Seq(
 lazy val portalPublishSettings = Seq(
   publishArtifact := false,
   publishLocal := (publishLocal in Docker).value,
-  publish := (publish in Docker).value
+  publish := (publish in Docker).value,
+  // for sbt-native-packager (docker) to exclude local.conf
+  mappings in Universal ~= ( _.filterNot {
+    case (file, _) => file.getName.equals("local.conf")
+  }),
+  // for local.conf to be excluded in jars
+  mappings in (Compile, packageBin) ~= ( _.filterNot {
+    case (file, _) => file.getName.equals("local.conf")
+  })
 )
 
 lazy val pbSettings = Seq(