diff --git a/src/openllm/local.py b/src/openllm/local.py
index e474cc105..d44f48b0f 100644
--- a/src/openllm/local.py
+++ b/src/openllm/local.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ def prep_env_vars(bento: BentoInfo):
 
     env_vars = bento.envs
     for env_var in env_vars:
-        if 'value' not in env_var:
+        if not env_var.get("value"):
             continue
         key = env_var['name']
         value = env_var['value']