diff --git a/MareSynchronosServer/MareSynchronosServices/Authentication/SecretKeyAuthenticationHandler.cs b/MareSynchronosServer/MareSynchronosServices/Authentication/SecretKeyAuthenticationHandler.cs
index 6caa66c..cdd3579 100644
--- a/MareSynchronosServer/MareSynchronosServices/Authentication/SecretKeyAuthenticationHandler.cs
+++ b/MareSynchronosServer/MareSynchronosServices/Authentication/SecretKeyAuthenticationHandler.cs
@@ -179,10 +179,14 @@ public class SecretKeyAuthenticationHandler
         logger.LogInformation("FailedAuthForTempBan: {num}", _failedAttemptsForTempBan);
         _tempBanMinutes = config.GetValue<int>("TempBanDurationInMinutes", 30);
         logger.LogInformation("TempBanMinutes: {num}", _tempBanMinutes);
-        _whitelistedIps = config.GetSection("WhitelistedIps").Get<List<string>>();
-        foreach (var ip in _whitelistedIps)
+        var whitelisted = config.GetSection("WhitelistedIps");
+        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(whitelisted.Value))
         {
-            logger.LogInformation("Whitelisted IP: " + ip);
+            _whitelistedIps = whitelisted.Get<List<string>>();
+            foreach (var ip in _whitelistedIps)
+            {
+                logger.LogInformation("Whitelisted IP: " + ip);
+            }
         }
     }
 }
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