diff --git a/api/config/kafka_settings.py b/api/config/kafka_settings.py
index 4bdc85e..c01c223 100644
--- a/api/config/kafka_settings.py
+++ b/api/config/kafka_settings.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # api/config/kafka_settings.py
 
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
+from pydantic import field_validator
+from typing import Optional
 
 
 class KafkaSettings(BaseSettings):
@@ -10,6 +12,22 @@ class KafkaSettings(BaseSettings):
     kafka_prefix: str = "data_stream_"
     max_streams: int = 10
 
+    @field_validator("kafka_port", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def validate_kafka_port(cls, v):
+        """Handle empty string or None when Kafka is disabled."""
+        if v is None or v == "":
+            return 9092  # Return default value
+        return int(v)
+
+    @field_validator("kafka_host", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def validate_kafka_host(cls, v):
+        """Handle empty string or None when Kafka is disabled."""
+        if v is None or v == "":
+            return "localhost"  # Return default value
+        return v
+
     @property
     def connection_details(self):
         return {