diff --git a/backend/src/helpers/validators/required-environment-variables.validator.ts b/backend/src/helpers/validators/required-environment-variables.validator.ts
index ad4672721..ed06400f2 100644
--- a/backend/src/helpers/validators/required-environment-variables.validator.ts
+++ b/backend/src/helpers/validators/required-environment-variables.validator.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 import { Messages } from '../../exceptions/text/messages.js';
 
 export function requiredEnvironmentVariablesValidator(): void {
-  const requiredParameterNames: Array<string> = ['DATABASE_URL', 'PRIVATE_KEY', 'JWT_SECRET'];
+  const requiredParameterNames: Array<string> = ['PRIVATE_KEY', 'JWT_SECRET'];
+
+  const pgLiteFolderPath = getEnvironmentVariable('PGLITE_FOLDER_PATH');
+  if (!pgLiteFolderPath) {
+    requiredParameterNames.push('DATABASE_URL');
+  }
 
   const requiredParameters: Array<{ [k: string]: string | null }> = requiredParameterNames.map((paramName) => {
     const paramValue = getEnvironmentVariable(paramName);