diff --git a/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py b/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py
index 119be58e3..cff1b8e5c 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ APP_API_PREFIX = os.environ.get("API_PREFIX", "")
 #####
 BLURB_SIZE = 128  # Number Encoder Tokens included in the chunk blurb
 GENERATIVE_MODEL_ACCESS_CHECK_FREQ = int(
-    os.environ.get("GENERATIVE_MODEL_ACCESS_CHECK_FREQ", 86400)
+    os.environ.get("GENERATIVE_MODEL_ACCESS_CHECK_FREQ") or 86400
 )  # 1 day
 DISABLE_GENERATIVE_AI = os.environ.get("DISABLE_GENERATIVE_AI", "").lower() == "true"