diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts
index 454715e2cb..5c7d7ec81d 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@ export const getCouchInfo = (connection?: string) => {
   }
   const authCookie = Buffer.from(`${username}:${password}`).toString("base64")
   let sqlUrl = env.COUCH_DB_SQL_URL
-  if (!sqlUrl && urlInfo.url) {
+  // default for dev
+  if (env.isDev() && !sqlUrl) {
+    sqlUrl = "http://localhost:4006"
+  } else if (!sqlUrl && urlInfo.url) {
     const parsed = new URL(urlInfo.url)
     // attempt to connect on default port
     sqlUrl = urlInfo.url.replace(parsed.port, "4984")
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
index 8ed96b32c3..64e3187956 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ const environment = {
   ENCRYPTION_KEY: process.env.ENCRYPTION_KEY,
   API_ENCRYPTION_KEY: getAPIEncryptionKey(),
   COUCH_DB_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_URL || "http://localhost:4005",
-  COUCH_DB_SQL_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_SQL_URL || "http://localhost:4006",
+  COUCH_DB_SQL_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_SQL_URL,
   SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE: process.env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE,
   SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE_TENANTS:
     process.env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE_TENANTS?.split(",") || [],
diff --git a/packages/server/src/environment.ts b/packages/server/src/environment.ts
index 28673dcaa8..e1525ebd1b 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/environment.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ const DEFAULTS = {
   PLUGINS_DIR: "/plugins",
   FORKED_PROCESS_NAME: "main",
   JS_RUNNER_MEMORY_LIMIT: 64,
-  COUCH_DB_SQL_URL: "http://localhost:4006",
 }
 
 const QUERY_THREAD_TIMEOUT =
@@ -44,7 +43,7 @@ const environment = {
   // important - prefer app port to generic port
   PORT: process.env.APP_PORT || process.env.PORT,
   COUCH_DB_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_URL,
-  COUCH_DB_SQL_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_SQL_URL || DEFAULTS.COUCH_DB_SQL_URL,
+  COUCH_DB_SQL_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_SQL_URL,
   MINIO_URL: process.env.MINIO_URL,
   WORKER_URL: process.env.WORKER_URL,
   AWS_REGION: process.env.AWS_REGION,
diff --git a/packages/worker/src/api/controllers/system/environment.ts b/packages/worker/src/api/controllers/system/environment.ts
index 788b45f25d..59a4e095dc 100644
--- a/packages/worker/src/api/controllers/system/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/worker/src/api/controllers/system/environment.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Ctx, MaintenanceType } from "@budibase/types"
 import env from "../../../environment"
-import { env as coreEnv } from "@budibase/backend-core"
+import { env as coreEnv, db as dbCore } from "@budibase/backend-core"
 import nodeFetch from "node-fetch"
 
 let sqsAvailable: boolean
@@ -12,7 +12,12 @@ async function isSqsAvailable() {
   }
 
   try {
-    await nodeFetch(coreEnv.COUCH_DB_SQL_URL, {
+    const couchInfo = dbCore.getCouchInfo()
+    if (!couchInfo.sqlUrl) {
+      sqsAvailable = false
+      return false
+    }
+    await nodeFetch(couchInfo.sqlUrl, {
       timeout: 1000,
     })
     sqsAvailable = true