diff --git a/docker-compose.quickstart.yml b/docker-compose.quickstart.yml
index f44549b4..4193c2f9 100644
--- a/docker-compose.quickstart.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.quickstart.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,6 @@ services:
       PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_MODE: "authenticated"
       PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_EXPOSURE: "private"
       PAPERCLIP_ALLOWED_HOSTNAMES: "${PAPERCLIP_ALLOWED_HOSTNAMES:-localhost}"
-      BETTER_AUTH_SECRET: "${BETTER_AUTH_SECRET:-dev-insecure-change-me}"
+      BETTER_AUTH_SECRET: "${BETTER_AUTH_SECRET:?BETTER_AUTH_SECRET must be set}"
     volumes:
       - "${PAPERCLIP_DATA_DIR:-./data/docker-paperclip}:/paperclip"
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 969d620b..64817b55 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ services:
       PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_MODE: "authenticated"
       PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_EXPOSURE: "private"
       PAPERCLIP_ALLOWED_HOSTNAMES: "${PAPERCLIP_ALLOWED_HOSTNAMES:-localhost}"
-      BETTER_AUTH_SECRET: "${BETTER_AUTH_SECRET:-dev-insecure-change-me}"      
+      BETTER_AUTH_SECRET: "${BETTER_AUTH_SECRET:?BETTER_AUTH_SECRET must be set}"
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy