diff --git a/core/assets/run.sh b/core/assets/run.sh
index 5e51673..dfc518f 100755
--- a/core/assets/run.sh
+++ b/core/assets/run.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ function wait_for_postgres () {
 #
 # TODO: Check the database type and detect if it is up based on that. For now,
 # assume that postgres is being used if DATABASE_URL is defined.
-if [[ ! -v "$DATABASES_URL" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -v DATABASES_URL ]]; then
 	echo "DATABASE_URL is not defined. Using sqlite database..."
 	export DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///mailman.db
 	export DATABASE_TYPE='sqlite'
@@ -41,22 +41,22 @@ if [[ ! -v "$DATABASES_URL" ]]; then
 fi
 
 
-if [[ "DATABASE_TYPE" = 'postgres' ]]
+if [[ "$DATABASE_TYPE" = 'postgres' ]]
 then
 	wait_for_postgres
 fi
 
 # Check if $MM_HOSTNAME is set, if not, set it to a default value.
 # TODO: Factor this out to a function.
-if [[ -z "$MM_HOSTNAME" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -v MM_HOSTNAME ]]; then
 	export MM_HOSTNAME=mailman-core
 fi
 
-if [[ -z "$SMTP_HOST" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -v SMTP_HOST ]]; then
 	export SMTP_HOST='172.19.199.1'
 fi
 
-if [[ -z "$SMTP_PORT" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -v SMTP_PORT ]]; then
 	export SMTP_PORT=25
 fi
 
@@ -98,15 +98,15 @@ then
 fi
 
 
-if [[ -z "$HYPERKITTY_API_KEY" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -v HYPERKITTY_API_KEY ]]; then
 	echo "HYPERKITTY_API_KEY not defined, please set this environment variable..."
 	echo "exiting..."
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-if [[ -z "$HYPERKITTY_URL" ]]; then
+if [[ -v HYPERKITTY_URL ]]; then
 	echo "HYPERKITTY_URL not set, using the default value of http://mailman-web:8000/hyperkitty"
-	HYPERKITTY_URL="http://mailman-web:8000/hyperkitty/"
+	export HYPERKITTY_URL="http://mailman-web:8000/hyperkitty/"
 fi
 
 # Generate a basic mailman-hyperkitty.cfg.
diff --git a/web/assets/run.sh b/web/assets/run.sh
index 697b569..df20830 100755
--- a/web/assets/run.sh
+++ b/web/assets/run.sh
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ if [[ ! $(pwd) == '/opt/mailman-web' ]]; then
 fi
 
 # Check if the logs directory is setup.
-
 if [[ ! -e /opt/mailman-web-data/logs/mailmanweb.log ]]; then
 	echo "Creating log file for mailman web"
 	mkdir -p /opt/mailman-web-data/logs/
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@ if [[ -e /opt/mailman-web-data/settings_local.py ]]; then
 	echo "Copying settings_local.py ..."
 	cp /opt/mailman-web-data/settings_local.py /opt/mailman-web/settings_local.py
 else
-	echo "settings_local.py not found, it is highly recommended that you provide one/"
+	echo "settings_local.py not found, it is highly recommended that you provide one"
 	echo "Using default configuration to run."
 fi
 
@@ -93,7 +92,7 @@ python manage.py migrate
 # It can be changed by $UWSGI_LOG_URL environment variable, which if not set points
 # to /opt/mailman-web/logs/uwsgi.log
 # It can also point to a logging daemon accessible at a URL.
-if [[ -z "$UWSGI_LOG_URL" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -v UWSGI_LOG_URL ]]; then
 	echo "No UWSGI_LOG_URL defined, logging uwsgi to /opt/mailman-web-data/logs/uwsgi.log ..."
 	export UWSGI_LOG_URL='/opt/mailman-web-data/logs/uwsgi.log'
 	if [[ ! -e "$UWSGI_LOG_URL" ]]; then
@@ -101,7 +100,7 @@ if [[ -z "$UWSGI_LOG_URL" ]]; then
 	fi
 fi
 
-if [[ -z "$UWSGI_WSGI_FILE" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -v UWSGI_WSGI_FILE ]]; then
 	export UWSGI_WSGI_FILE="wsgi.py"
 	export UWSGI_HTTP=:8000
 	export UWSGI_WORKERS=2