diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/networking/headscale.nix b/nixos/modules/services/networking/headscale.nix
index 5b07beadb45f..a9958c884da8 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/networking/headscale.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/networking/headscale.nix
@@ -429,12 +429,16 @@ in
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
       restartTriggers = [ configFile ];
 
+      environment.GIN_MODE = "release";
+
       script = ''
         ${optionalString (cfg.database.passwordFile != null) ''
           export HEADSCALE_DB_PASS="$(head -n1 ${escapeShellArg cfg.database.passwordFile})"
         ''}
 
-        export HEADSCALE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET="$(head -n1 ${escapeShellArg cfg.openIdConnect.clientSecretFile})"
+        ${optionalString (cfg.openIdConnect.clientSecretFile != null) ''
+          export HEADSCALE_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET="$(head -n1 ${escapeShellArg cfg.openIdConnect.clientSecretFile})"
+        ''}
         exec ${cfg.package}/bin/headscale serve
       '';