diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/default-registry.md b/changelog/unreleased/default-registry.md
index 407af74810..f4b978f6d7 100644
--- a/changelog/unreleased/default-registry.md
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/default-registry.md
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ Enhancement: Make nats-js-kv the default registry
 The previously used default `mdns` is faulty. Deprecated it together with `consul`, `nats` and `etcd` implementations.
 
 https://github.com/owncloud/ocis/pull/8011
+https://github.com/owncloud/ocis/pull/8027
diff --git a/ocis-pkg/registry/registry.go b/ocis-pkg/registry/registry.go
index 3d1b2b80e3..3da5ad0e81 100644
--- a/ocis-pkg/registry/registry.go
+++ b/ocis-pkg/registry/registry.go
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ func getEnvs(opts ...Option) *Config {
 		cfg.Type = s
 	}
 
-	if s := strings.Split(os.Getenv(registryAddressEnv), ","); len(s) > 0 {
+	if s := strings.Split(os.Getenv(registryAddressEnv), ","); len(s) > 0 && s[0] != "" {
 		cfg.Addresses = s
 	}