diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 7c12acf..37a6b44 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM python:3.12-slim as application
+FROM python:3.12-slim AS application
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ ENV PATH="$VIRTUAL_ENV/bin:$PATH"
 COPY src /app/src
 COPY requirements.lock pyproject.toml /app/
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.lock
-RUN edge-proxy-render-config
 
 EXPOSE 8000
 
diff --git a/src/edge_proxy/settings.py b/src/edge_proxy/settings.py
index 2c5dfdd..fdc3647 100644
--- a/src/edge_proxy/settings.py
+++ b/src/edge_proxy/settings.py
@@ -59,7 +59,13 @@ def json_config_settings_source() -> dict[str, Any]:
     at the project's root.
     """
     encoding = "utf-8"
-    return json.loads(Path(CONFIG_PATH).read_text(encoding))
+    try:
+        config = json.loads(Path(CONFIG_PATH).read_text(encoding))
+        logger.info(f"Loaded configuration from {CONFIG_PATH}")
+        return config
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        logger.info(f"Configuration file at {CONFIG_PATH} not found")
+        return {}
 
 
 class EnvironmentKeyPair(BaseModel):