diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-images.yml b/.github/workflows/build-images.yml
index c8fbad4ce6..fed00af18e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-images.yml
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: ./.github/actions/build-rust
         env:
           AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY: ${{ secrets.AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY }}
+          AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY: ${{ secrets.AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY }}
         with:
           target: ${{ matrix.targets.name }}
           package: '@affine/server-native'
diff --git a/packages/backend/native/index.d.ts b/packages/backend/native/index.d.ts
index 2263bf3fbd..8456170f3c 100644
--- a/packages/backend/native/index.d.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/native/index.d.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ export declare class Tokenizer {
   count(content: string, allowedSpecial?: Array<string> | undefined | null): number
 }
 
+export const AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY: string | undefined | null
+
 export const AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY: string | undefined | null
 
 export declare function fromModelName(modelName: string): Tokenizer | null
diff --git a/packages/backend/native/src/lib.rs b/packages/backend/native/src/lib.rs
index c6da005d29..ff27317723 100644
--- a/packages/backend/native/src/lib.rs
+++ b/packages/backend/native/src/lib.rs
@@ -54,4 +54,8 @@ pub fn merge_updates_in_apply_way(updates: Vec<Buffer>) -> Result<Buffer> {
 }
 
 #[napi]
-pub const AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY: Option<&'static str> = std::option_env!("AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY",);
+pub const AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY: Option<&'static str> = std::option_env!("AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY");
+
+#[napi]
+pub const AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY: Option<&'static str> =
+  std::option_env!("AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY");
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired-end-at.license b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired-end-at.license
index 3690e05155..e9fa1253f6 100644
Binary files a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired-end-at.license and b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired-end-at.license differ
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired.license b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired.license
index 3c0d068488..336d45b64c 100644
Binary files a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired.license and b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/expired.license differ
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/valid.license b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/valid.license
index 84943b133c..bbe3ed2a02 100644
Binary files a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/valid.license and b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/__fixtures__/valid.license differ
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/resolver.spec.ts b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/resolver.spec.ts
index 1627619850..566e7c40b7 100644
--- a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/resolver.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/e2e/license/resolver.spec.ts
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@ import {
 
 const testWorkspaceId = 'd6f52bc7-d62a-4822-804a-335fa7dfe5a6';
 const testPublicKey = `-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
-MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEkXqe9HR32rSgaNxaePXbwHxoanUq
-1DcQTV1twn+G47/HiY+rj7oOw3cLNzOVe7+4Uxn8SMZ/XLImtqFQ6I4WVg==
+MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEqrxlczPknUuj4q4xx1VGr063Cgu7
+Hc3w7v4FGmoA5MNzzhrkho1ckDYw2wrX6zBnehFzcivURv80HherE2GQjg==
 -----END PUBLIC KEY-----`;
+const testTestLicenseAESKey = 'TEST_LICENSE_AES_KEY';
 
 const fixturesDir = join(import.meta.dirname, '__fixtures__');
 function getLicense(file: string) {
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ let owner: MockedUser;
 e2e.before(async () => {
   process.env.DEPLOYMENT_TYPE = 'selfhosted';
   process.env.AFFiNE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY = testPublicKey;
+  process.env.AFFiNE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY = testTestLicenseAESKey;
   refreshEnv();
 
   app = await createApp();
@@ -123,7 +125,8 @@ e2e('should not install expired license', async t => {
       },
     }),
     {
-      message: 'License has expired.',
+      message:
+        'Invalid license to activate. License file has expired. Please contact with Affine support to fetch a latest one.',
     }
   );
 });
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/env.spec.ts b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/env.spec.ts
index 970b464fd0..9ad2d14575 100644
--- a/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/env.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/server/src/__tests__/env.spec.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ test('should read NODE_ENV', t => {
     },
     {
       message:
-        'Invalid value "unknown" for environment variable NODE_ENV, expected one of ["development","test","production"]',
+        'Invalid NODE_ENV environment. `unknown` is not a valid NODE_ENV value.',
     }
   );
 });
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/base/helpers/crypto.ts b/packages/backend/server/src/base/helpers/crypto.ts
index b8408b1033..8bb271964b 100644
--- a/packages/backend/server/src/base/helpers/crypto.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/server/src/base/helpers/crypto.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ import {
   verify as verifyPassword,
 } from '@node-rs/argon2';
 
-import { AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY } from '../../native';
+import {
+  AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY,
+  AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY,
+} from '../../native';
 import { Config } from '../config';
 import { OnEvent } from '../event';
 
@@ -59,10 +62,12 @@ export class CryptoHelper implements OnModuleInit {
   };
 
   AFFiNEProPublicKey: Buffer | null = null;
+  AFFiNEProLicenseAESKey: Buffer | null = null;
 
   onModuleInit() {
     if (env.selfhosted) {
       this.AFFiNEProPublicKey = this.loadAFFiNEProPublicKey();
+      this.AFFiNEProLicenseAESKey = this.loadAFFiNEProLicenseAESKey();
     }
   }
 
@@ -197,4 +202,20 @@ export class CryptoHelper implements OnModuleInit {
 
     return null;
   }
+
+  private loadAFFiNEProLicenseAESKey() {
+    if (AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY) {
+      return this.sha256(AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY);
+    } else {
+      this.logger.warn(
+        'AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY is not set at compile time.'
+      );
+    }
+
+    if (!env.prod && process.env.AFFiNE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY) {
+      return this.sha256(process.env.AFFiNE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY);
+    }
+
+    return null;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/env.ts b/packages/backend/server/src/env.ts
index 0d55b85e77..d82236cee6 100644
--- a/packages/backend/server/src/env.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/server/src/env.ts
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ globalThis.readEnv = function readEnv<T>(
 };
 
 export class Env implements AppEnv {
-  NODE_ENV = readEnv('NODE_ENV', NodeEnv.Production, Object.values(NodeEnv));
+  NODE_ENV = (process.env.NODE_ENV ?? NodeEnv.Production) as NodeEnv;
   NAMESPACE = readEnv(
     'AFFINE_ENV',
     Namespace.Production,
@@ -134,6 +134,14 @@ export class Env implements AppEnv {
   get gcp() {
     return this.platform === Platform.GCP;
   }
+
+  constructor() {
+    if (!Object.values(NodeEnv).includes(this.NODE_ENV)) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Invalid NODE_ENV environment. \`${this.NODE_ENV}\` is not a valid NODE_ENV value.`
+      );
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 export const createGlobalEnv = () => {
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/native.ts b/packages/backend/server/src/native.ts
index d47bd0df7e..7b3a451fdf 100644
--- a/packages/backend/server/src/native.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/server/src/native.ts
@@ -22,3 +22,5 @@ export const Tokenizer = serverNativeModule.Tokenizer;
 export const fromModelName = serverNativeModule.fromModelName;
 export const htmlSanitize = serverNativeModule.htmlSanitize;
 export const AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY = serverNativeModule.AFFINE_PRO_PUBLIC_KEY;
+export const AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY =
+  serverNativeModule.AFFINE_PRO_LICENSE_AES_KEY;
diff --git a/packages/backend/server/src/plugins/license/service.ts b/packages/backend/server/src/plugins/license/service.ts
index d02b29959a..b8a9d2d559 100644
--- a/packages/backend/server/src/plugins/license/service.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/server/src/plugins/license/service.ts
@@ -485,11 +485,7 @@ export class LicenseService {
 
     // we use workspace id as aes key hash plain text content
     // verify signature to make sure the payload or signature is not forged
-    const {
-      payload: payloadStr,
-      signature,
-      iv,
-    } = this.decryptLicense(workspaceId, buf);
+    const { payload: payloadStr, signature, iv } = this.decryptLicense(buf);
 
     const verifier = createVerify('rsa-sha256');
     verifier.update(iv);
@@ -515,6 +511,13 @@ export class LicenseService {
       });
     }
 
+    if (new Date(parseResult.data.expiresAt) < new Date()) {
+      throw new InvalidLicenseToActivate({
+        reason:
+          'License file has expired. Please contact with Affine support to fetch a latest one.',
+      });
+    }
+
     if (parseResult.data.data.workspaceId !== workspaceId) {
       throw new InvalidLicenseToActivate({
         reason: 'Workspace mismatched with license.',
@@ -524,7 +527,13 @@ export class LicenseService {
     return parseResult.data;
   }
 
-  private decryptLicense(workspaceId: string, buf: Buffer) {
+  private decryptLicense(buf: Buffer) {
+    if (!this.crypto.AFFiNEProLicenseAESKey) {
+      throw new InternalServerError(
+        'License AES key is not loaded. Please contact with Affine support.'
+      );
+    }
+
     if (buf.length < 2) {
       throw new InvalidLicenseToActivate({
         reason: 'Invalid license file.',
@@ -539,12 +548,14 @@ export class LicenseService {
       const tag = buf.subarray(2 + ivLength, 2 + ivLength + authTagLength);
       const payload = buf.subarray(2 + ivLength + authTagLength);
 
-      const aesKey = this.crypto.sha256(
-        `WORKSPACE_PAYLOAD_AES_KEY:${workspaceId}`
+      const decipher = createDecipheriv(
+        'aes-256-gcm',
+        this.crypto.AFFiNEProLicenseAESKey,
+        iv,
+        {
+          authTagLength,
+        }
       );
-      const decipher = createDecipheriv('aes-256-gcm', aesKey, iv, {
-        authTagLength,
-      });
       decipher.setAuthTag(tag);
 
       const decrypted = Buffer.concat([
@@ -564,7 +575,7 @@ export class LicenseService {
     } catch {
       // we use workspace id as aes key hash plain text content
       throw new InvalidLicenseToActivate({
-        reason: 'Workspace mismatched with license.',
+        reason: 'Failed to verify the license.',
       });
     }
   }
diff --git a/tools/cli/src/webpack/index.ts b/tools/cli/src/webpack/index.ts
index 5f45c6a0f4..05028b0de2 100644
--- a/tools/cli/src/webpack/index.ts
+++ b/tools/cli/src/webpack/index.ts
@@ -601,6 +601,9 @@ export function createNodeTargetConfig(
           );
         },
       }),
+      new webpack.DefinePlugin({
+        'process.env.NODE_ENV': '"production"',
+      }),
     ]),
     stats: { errorDetails: true },
     optimization: { nodeEnv: false },