diff --git a/blockstore_proxy.go b/blockstore_proxy.go
index 6421d9b..ce2cc32 100644
--- a/blockstore_proxy.go
+++ b/blockstore_proxy.go
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	EnvProxyGateway = "PROXY_GATEWAY_URL"
-
-	DefaultKuboRPC = "http://127.0.0.1:5001"
 )
 
 type proxyBlockStore struct {
diff --git a/docs/environment-variables.md b/docs/environment-variables.md
index 3664fa2..09ee5a6 100644
--- a/docs/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/environment-variables.md
@@ -26,10 +26,9 @@
 
 ### `KUBO_RPC_URL`
 
-Default: see `DefaultKuboRPC`
-
 Single URL or a comma separated list of RPC endpoints that provide `/api/v0` from Kubo.
 This is used to redirect legacy `/api/v0` commands that need to be handled on `ipfs.io`.
+If this is not set, the redirects are not set up.
 
 ### `BLOCK_CACHE_SIZE`
 
diff --git a/handlers.go b/handlers.go
index d49795a..5eb2ccb 100644
--- a/handlers.go
+++ b/handlers.go
@@ -163,10 +163,13 @@ func makeGatewayHandler(bs bstore.Blockstore, kuboRPC, gatewayURLs []string, por
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
 	mux.Handle("/ipfs/", ipfsHandler)
 	mux.Handle("/ipns/", ipnsHandler)
-	// TODO: below is legacy which we want to remove, measuring this separately
-	// allows us to decide when is the time to do it.
-	legacyKuboRpcHandler := withHTTPMetrics(newKuboRPCHandler(kuboRPC), "legacyKuboRpc")
-	mux.Handle("/api/v0/", legacyKuboRpcHandler)
+
+	if len(kuboRPC) != 0 {
+		// TODO: below is legacy which we want to remove, measuring this separately
+		// allows us to decide when is the time to do it.
+		legacyKuboRpcHandler := withHTTPMetrics(newKuboRPCHandler(kuboRPC), "legacyKuboRpc")
+		mux.Handle("/api/v0/", legacyKuboRpcHandler)
+	}
 
 	// Construct the HTTP handler for the gateway.
 	handler := withConnect(mux)
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 32906a5..884d9af 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ See documentation at: https://github.com/ipfs/bifrost-gateway/#readme`,
 		// Get env variables.
 		saturnOrchestrator := getEnv(EnvSaturnOrchestrator, "")
 		proxyGateway := getEnvs(EnvProxyGateway, "")
-		kuboRPC := getEnvs(EnvKuboRPC, DefaultKuboRPC)
+		kuboRPC := getEnvs(EnvKuboRPC, "")
 
 		blockCacheSize, err := getEnvInt(EnvBlockCacheSize, lib.DefaultCacheBlockStoreSize)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -134,7 +134,10 @@ See documentation at: https://github.com/ipfs/bifrost-gateway/#readme`,
 			log.Printf("%s: %d", EnvBlockCacheSize, blockCacheSize)
 			log.Printf("%s: %t", EnvGraphBackend, useGraphBackend)
 
-			log.Printf("Legacy RPC at /api/v0 (%s) provided by %s", EnvKuboRPC, strings.Join(kuboRPC, " "))
+			if len(kuboRPC) != 0 {
+				log.Printf("Legacy RPC at /api/v0 (%s) provided by %s", EnvKuboRPC, strings.Join(kuboRPC, " "))
+			}
+
 			log.Printf("Path gateway listening on http://127.0.0.1:%d", gatewayPort)
 			log.Printf("  Smoke test (JPG): http://127.0.0.1:%d/ipfs/bafybeigdyrzt5sfp7udm7hu76uh7y26nf3efuylqabf3oclgtqy55fbzdi", gatewayPort)
 			log.Printf("Subdomain gateway configured on dweb.link and http://localhost:%d", gatewayPort)