diff --git a/auth/auth.go b/auth/auth.go
index 842961945..cd4db11e8 100644
--- a/auth/auth.go
+++ b/auth/auth.go
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func AdminCheck(pubkey string) bool {
 }
 
 func IsFreePass() bool {
-	if len(config.SuperAdmins) == 1 && config.SuperAdmins[0] == config.AdminDevFreePass {
+	if len(config.SuperAdmins) == 1 && config.SuperAdmins[0] == config.AdminDevFreePass || config.AdminStrings == "" {
 		return true
 	}
 	return false
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 5feb3f7d9..84a37e9eb 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ var S3Url string
 var AdminCheck string
 var AdminDevFreePass = "FREE_PASS"
 var Connection_Auth string
+var AdminStrings string
 
 var S3Client *s3.Client
 var PresignClient *s3.PresignClient
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ func InitConfig() {
 	RelayUrl = os.Getenv("RELAY_URL")
 	MemeUrl = os.Getenv("MEME_URL")
 	RelayAuthKey = os.Getenv("RELAY_AUTH_KEY")
-	AdminStrings := os.Getenv("ADMINS")
+	AdminStrings = os.Getenv("ADMINS")
 	AwsSecret := os.Getenv("AWS_SECRET_ACCESS")
 	AwsAccess := os.Getenv("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID")
 	AwsRegion := os.Getenv("AWS_REGION")