diff --git a/playbooks/roles/edxapp/templates/edx/app/edxapp/lms.sh.j2 b/playbooks/roles/edxapp/templates/edx/app/edxapp/lms.sh.j2
index 42c86b8c2b4..4f00f01ac4c 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/edxapp/templates/edx/app/edxapp/lms.sh.j2
+++ b/playbooks/roles/edxapp/templates/edx/app/edxapp/lms.sh.j2
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ fi
 # (Maybe this will keep NR trace instrumentation in place, but not cost us anything,
 # because this free-tier NR account will throw away most data.)
 # See https://github.com/edx/edx-arch-experiments/issues/692
-export NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY="{{ EDXAPP_NEWRELIC_LICENSE_TEST_FREE }}"
+export NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY="{{ EDXAPP_NEWRELIC_LICENSE_TEST_FREE | default('') }}"
 {% else %}
 export NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY="{{ NEWRELIC_LICENSE_KEY }}"
 {% endif %}