diff --git a/apps/web/src/env.ts b/apps/web/src/env.ts
index 0130bcfe..556928b8 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/env.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/env.ts
@@ -3,20 +3,22 @@ import { z } from "zod";
 
 export const env = createEnv({
 	server: {
-		CLERK_SECRET_KEY: z.string().min(1),
-		AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY: z.string().min(1),
-		AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: z.string().min(1),
-		AWS_REGION: z.string().min(1),
-		AWS_SES_EMAIL_FROM: z.string().min(1),
-		INTERNAL_AUTH_KEY: z.string().min(64),
-		BOT_API_URL: z.string().min(1),
+		CLERK_SECRET_KEY: z.string(),
+		AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY: z.string(),
+		AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: z.string(),
+		AWS_REGION: z.string(),
+		AWS_SES_EMAIL_FROM: z.string(),
+		INTERNAL_AUTH_KEY: z.string().min(64, {
+			message: "INTERNAL_AUTH_KEY must be at least 64 characters",
+		}),
+		BOT_API_URL: z.string(),
 		HK_ENV: z.string().min(1),
 		NODE_ENV: z
 			.enum(["development", "test", "production"])
 			.default("development"),
 	},
 	client: {
-		NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY: z.string().min(1),
+		NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY: z.string(),
 	},
 	// If you're using Next.js < 13.4.4, you'll need to specify the runtimeEnv manually
 	//   runtimeEnv: {
@@ -29,4 +31,6 @@ export const env = createEnv({
 		NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY:
 			process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY,
 	},
+	// Enable the flag to treat empty strings as undefined
+	emptyStringAsUndefined: true,
 });