diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/tokens/ServerTokenManager.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/tokens/ServerTokenManager.ts
index 8c757f5ff6..fa7e6fac2d 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/tokens/ServerTokenManager.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/tokens/ServerTokenManager.ts
@@ -26,10 +26,8 @@ export class ServerTokenManager implements TokenManager {
   }
 
   static fromConfig(config: Config) {
-    const secret = config.getOptionalString('backend.authorization.secret');
-    if (!secret) {
-      throw new Error('No backend auth secret set in app-config');
-    }
+    const secret = config.getString('backend.authorization.secret');
+
     return new ServerTokenManager(secret);
   }