diff --git a/explorer/src/lib/stores/__tests__/appStore.spec.js b/explorer/src/lib/stores/__tests__/appStore.spec.js
index 5d2c2d2abb..edfcff71be 100644
--- a/explorer/src/lib/stores/__tests__/appStore.spec.js
+++ b/explorer/src/lib/stores/__tests__/appStore.spec.js
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { get } from "svelte/store";
 
-import { appStore } from "..";
-
 describe("appStore", () => {
-  it("should be a readable store holding the information needed throughout the whole application", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.resetModules();
+  });
+
+  it("should be a readable store holding the information needed throughout the whole application", async () => {
+    const { appStore } = await import("..");
     const { env } = import.meta;
     const expectedNetworks = [
       { label: "Testnet", value: env.VITE_DUSK_TESTNET_NODE },
@@ -24,7 +27,22 @@ describe("appStore", () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it("should expose a service method to set the selected network", () => {
+  it("should use default values for the fetch intervals if the env vars are missing", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("VITE_REFETCH_INTERVAL", "");
+    vi.stubEnv("VITE_MARKET_DATA_REFETCH_INTERVAL", "");
+
+    const { appStore } = await import("..");
+    const { fetchInterval, marketDataFetchInterval } = get(appStore);
+
+    expect(fetchInterval).toBe(1000);
+    expect(marketDataFetchInterval).toBe(120000);
+
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+  });
+
+  it("should expose a service method to set the selected network", async () => {
+    const { appStore } = await import("..");
+
     appStore.setNetwork("some-network");
 
     expect(get(appStore).network).toBe("some-network");
diff --git a/explorer/src/lib/stores/appStore.js b/explorer/src/lib/stores/appStore.js
index e76a90ff74..9d57bca55c 100644
--- a/explorer/src/lib/stores/appStore.js
+++ b/explorer/src/lib/stores/appStore.js
@@ -10,10 +10,9 @@ const networks = [
 const initialState = {
   blocksListEntries: Number(import.meta.env.VITE_BLOCKS_LIST_ENTRIES),
   chainInfoEntries: Number(import.meta.env.VITE_CHAIN_INFO_ENTRIES),
-  fetchInterval: Number(import.meta.env.VITE_REFETCH_INTERVAL),
-  marketDataFetchInterval: Number(
-    import.meta.env.VITE_MARKET_DATA_REFETCH_INTERVAL
-  ),
+  fetchInterval: Number(import.meta.env.VITE_REFETCH_INTERVAL) || 1000,
+  marketDataFetchInterval:
+    Number(import.meta.env.VITE_MARKET_DATA_REFETCH_INTERVAL) || 120000,
   network: networks[0].value,
   networks,
   transactionsListEntries: Number(