diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 589b01696..d2b75f3a9 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
   const appConfig = configService.get<AppConfig>('appConfig');
   const mediaConfig = configService.get<MediaConfig>('mediaConfig');
 
+  if (!appConfig || !mediaConfig) {
+    logger.error('Could not initialize config, aborting.', 'AppBootstrap');
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
   setupPublicApiDocs(app);
   logger.log(
     `Serving OpenAPI docs for public api under '/apidoc'`,