diff --git a/zproject/settings.py b/zproject/settings.py
index 738ef8896a..569aa656a6 100644
--- a/zproject/settings.py
+++ b/zproject/settings.py
@@ -1371,7 +1371,7 @@ else:
 
 EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = get_secret('email_password')
 EMAIL_GATEWAY_PASSWORD = get_secret('email_gateway_password')
-AUTH_LDAP_BIND_PASSWORD = get_secret('auth_ldap_bind_password')
+AUTH_LDAP_BIND_PASSWORD = get_secret('auth_ldap_bind_password', '')
 
 # Set the sender email address for Django traceback error reporting
 if SERVER_EMAIL is None: