diff --git a/mishards/settings.py b/mishards/settings.py
index fd07d9d436..773c04f083 100644
--- a/mishards/settings.py
+++ b/mishards/settings.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class DefaultConfig:
 
 
 class TestingConfig(DefaultConfig):
-    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = env.str('SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_TEST_URI')
+    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = env.str('SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_TEST_URI', '')
     SQL_ECHO = env.bool('SQL_TEST_ECHO', False)
     TRACING_TYPE = env.str('TRACING_TEST_TYPE', '')
     ROUTER_CLASS_NAME = env.str('ROUTER_CLASS_TEST_NAME', 'FileBasedHashRingRouter')