diff --git a/conf.d/03-e2e-policy.cfg.lua b/conf.d/03-e2e-policy.cfg.lua
index 88a7ca8..dfed983 100644
--- a/conf.d/03-e2e-policy.cfg.lua
+++ b/conf.d/03-e2e-policy.cfg.lua
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ local stringy = require "stringy"
 
 e2e_policy_chat = os.getenv("E2E_POLICY_CHAT")
 e2e_policy_muc = os.getenv("E2E_POLICY_MUC")
-e2e_policy_whitelist = stringy.split(os.getenv("E2E_POLICY_WHITELIST"), ", ")
+e2e_policy_whitelist = stringy.split(os.getenv("E2E_POLICY_WHITELIST") or "", ", ")
 e2e_policy_message_optional_chat = "For security reasons, OMEMO, OTR or PGP encryption is STRONGLY recommended for conversations on this server."
 e2e_policy_message_required_chat = "For security reasons, OMEMO, OTR or PGP encryption is required for conversations on this server."
 e2e_policy_message_optional_muc = "For security reasons, OMEMO, OTR or PGP encryption is STRONGLY recommended for MUC on this server."
diff --git a/prosody.cfg.lua b/prosody.cfg.lua
index 5405242..2fd13f0 100644
--- a/prosody.cfg.lua
+++ b/prosody.cfg.lua
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 local stringy = require "stringy" 
 
-admins = stringy.split(os.getenv("PROSODY_ADMINS"), ", ");
+admins = stringy.split(os.getenv("PROSODY_ADMINS") or "", ", ");
 
 pidfile = "/var/run/prosody/prosody.pid"