diff --git a/server/mergin/config.py b/server/mergin/config.py
index 15773799..cfe77654 100644
--- a/server/mergin/config.py
+++ b/server/mergin/config.py
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ class Configuration(object):
         "ENABLE_SUPERADMIN_ASSIGNMENT", default=True, cast=bool
     )
     # backend version
-    VERSION = config("VERSION", default=get_version())
+    VERSION = config("VERSION", default="") or get_version()
     SERVER_TYPE = config("SERVER_TYPE", default="ce")
 
     # whether to run flask app with gevent worker type in gunicorn