diff --git a/hypha/VERSION b/hypha/VERSION
index b5d2cb12..017d05d6 100644
--- a/hypha/VERSION
+++ b/hypha/VERSION
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-    "version": "0.15.52"
+    "version": "0.15.53"
 }
diff --git a/hypha/core/workspace.py b/hypha/core/workspace.py
index 5084de87..1f7ab0e3 100644
--- a/hypha/core/workspace.py
+++ b/hypha/core/workspace.py
@@ -213,7 +213,8 @@ async def register_service(self, service, context: Optional[dict] = None, **kwar
         logger.info("Registering service %s to %s", service.id, self._workspace)
         rpc = await self.get_rpc()
         sv = await rpc.get_remote_service(context["from"] + ":built-in")
-        service["config"] = service.get("config", {})
+        if "config" not in service:
+            service["config"] = {}
         service["config"]["workspace"] = self._workspace
         service = await sv.register_service(service, **kwargs)
         assert "/" not in service["id"], "Service id must not contain '/'"