diff --git a/hscontrol/types/config.go b/hscontrol/types/config.go
index 09e6f818..8d633c46 100644
--- a/hscontrol/types/config.go
+++ b/hscontrol/types/config.go
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ func validateServerConfig() error {
 		errorText += "Fatal config error: set either tls_letsencrypt_hostname or tls_cert_path/tls_key_path, not both\n"
 	}
 
-	if !viper.IsSet("noise") || viper.GetString("noise.private_key_path") == "" {
+	if viper.GetString("noise.private_key_path") == "" {
 		errorText += "Fatal config error: headscale now requires a new `noise.private_key_path` field in the config file for the Tailscale v2 protocol\n"
 	}