diff --git a/helm/kagent/templates/secret.yaml b/helm/kagent/templates/secret.yaml
index c224cb63f..f070d27dd 100644
--- a/helm/kagent/templates/secret.yaml
+++ b/helm/kagent/templates/secret.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {{- $dot := . }}
 {{- $model := index $dot.Values.providers $dot.Values.providers.default  }}
-{{- if $model.apiKeySecretRef }}
+{{- if and $model.apiKeySecretRef $model.apiKey }}
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Secret
@@ -11,6 +11,5 @@ metadata:
     {{- include "kagent.labels" $dot | nindent 4 }}
 type: Opaque
 data:
-  {{/*  to prevent app container to fail with empty key use default - */}}
-  {{ $model.apiKeySecretKey | default (printf "%s_API_KEY" $model.provider | upper) }}: {{ $model.apiKey | default "-" | b64enc }}
-{{- end }}
+  {{ $model.apiKeySecretKey | default (printf "%s_API_KEY" $model.provider | upper) }}: {{ $model.apiKey | b64enc }}
+{{- end }}
\ No newline at end of file