diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/__init__.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/__init__.py
index 92c11037a..b006f5ec4 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/__init__.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/__init__.py
@@ -94,13 +94,6 @@ def create_app() -> flask.app.Flask:
     app.config["CONNEXION_APP"] = connexion_app
     app.config["SESSION_TYPE"] = "filesystem"
 
-    if os.environ.get("FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY") is None:
-        raise KeyError(
-            "Cannot find the secret_key from the environment. Please set"
-            " FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"
-        )
-
-    app.secret_key = os.environ.get("FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY")
 
     setup_config(app)
     db.init_app(app)
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
index ad5dcb0f5..a9d99b950 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
@@ -129,6 +129,14 @@ def setup_config(app: Flask) -> None:
             "SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_BPMN_SPEC_ABSOLUTE_DIR config must be set"
         )
 
+    if app.config["FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"] is None:
+        raise KeyError(
+            "Cannot find the secret_key from the environment. Please set"
+            " FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"
+        )
+
+    app.secret_key = os.environ.get("FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY")
+
     app.config["PROCESS_UUID"] = uuid.uuid4()
 
     setup_database_uri(app)
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/default.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/default.py
index c6994a7cf..914ac0252 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/default.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/default.py
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 import re
 from os import environ
 
+FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY = environ.get(
+    "FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"
+)
+
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_BPMN_SPEC_ABSOLUTE_DIR = environ.get(
     "SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_BPMN_SPEC_ABSOLUTE_DIR"
 )