diff --git a/deploy/helm/barycenter/templates/configmap.yaml b/deploy/helm/barycenter/templates/configmap.yaml
index 296a3df..ccefb44 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/barycenter/templates/configmap.yaml
+++ b/deploy/helm/barycenter/templates/configmap.yaml
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ data:
     public_base_url = {{ .Values.config.server.publicBaseUrl | quote }}
     {{- end }}
 
+    {{- if .Values.config.database.url }}
     [database]
     url = {{ .Values.config.database.url | quote }}
+    {{- end }}
 
     [keys]
     jwks_path = {{ .Values.config.keys.jwksPath | quote }}
diff --git a/src/settings.rs b/src/settings.rs
index 34901d4..66586db 100644
--- a/src/settings.rs
+++ b/src/settings.rs
@@ -145,8 +145,11 @@ impl Settings {
         }
 
         // Environment overrides: BARYCENTER__SERVER__PORT=9090, etc.
-        builder =
-            builder.add_source(config::Environment::with_prefix("BARYCENTER").separator("__"));
+        builder = builder.add_source(
+            config::Environment::with_prefix("BARYCENTER")
+                .prefix_separator("__")
+                .separator("__"),
+        );
 
         let cfg = builder.build().into_diagnostic()?;
         let mut s: Settings = cfg.try_deserialize().into_diagnostic()?;