The present invention relates to a bacterial host cell in which a first chromosomal gene encoding a first alanine racemase and a second chromosomal gene encoding a second alanine racemase have been inactivated. Said bacterial host cell comprises – either on a plasmid comprising at least one autonomous replication sequence or present as multiple copies in the chromosome – a gene expression cassette comprising a polynucleotide encoding at least one polypeptide of interest, operably linked to a promoter, and a polynucleotide encoding a third alanine racemase, operably linked to a promoter. The present invention further relates to a method for producing at least one polypeptide of interest based on cultivating the bacterial host cell of the present invention.