diff --git a/server/scripts/examples-gg-latest.js b/server/scripts/examples-gg-latest.js
index 251c5315..f06a4000 100644
--- a/server/scripts/examples-gg-latest.js
+++ b/server/scripts/examples-gg-latest.js
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ canvas {
 const headers = { 'User-Agent': 'p5js-web-editor/0.0.1' };
 
 let mongoConnectionString;
-if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' && process.env.MONGO_RW_USERNAME && process.env.MONGO_RW_PASSWORD) {
   const {
     MONGO_RW_USERNAME,
     MONGO_RW_PASSWORD,
diff --git a/server/scripts/examples.js b/server/scripts/examples.js
index 2bdf37ce..cce7cd43 100644
--- a/server/scripts/examples.js
+++ b/server/scripts/examples.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ const clientSecret = process.env.GITHUB_SECRET;
 const headers = { 'User-Agent': 'p5js-web-editor/0.0.1' };
 
 let mongoConnectionString;
-if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' && process.env.MONGO_RW_USERNAME && process.env.MONGO_RW_PASSWORD) {
   const {
     MONGO_RW_USERNAME,
     MONGO_RW_PASSWORD,