diff --git a/packages/server/modules/emails/utils/transporter.ts b/packages/server/modules/emails/utils/transporter.ts
index 8fdbfc733..805c9ad5e 100644
--- a/packages/server/modules/emails/utils/transporter.ts
+++ b/packages/server/modules/emails/utils/transporter.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 import { emailLogger as logger } from '@/observability/logging'
 import { MisconfiguredEnvironmentError } from '@/modules/shared/errors'
-import { isEmailEnabled, isTestEnv } from '@/modules/shared/helpers/envHelper'
+import {
+  getEmailHost,
+  getEmailPassword,
+  getEmailPort,
+  getEmailUsername,
+  isEmailEnabled,
+  isSecureEmailEnabled,
+  isTestEnv
+} from '@/modules/shared/helpers/envHelper'
 import type { Transporter } from 'nodemailer'
 import { createTransport } from 'nodemailer'
 
@@ -11,18 +19,23 @@ const createJsonEchoTransporter = () => createTransport({ jsonTransport: true })
 const initSmtpTransporter = async () => {
   try {
     const smtpTransporter = createTransport({
-      host: process.env.EMAIL_HOST || '127.0.0.1',
-      port: parseInt(process.env.EMAIL_PORT || '587'),
-      secure: process.env.EMAIL_SECURE === 'true',
+      host: getEmailHost(),
+      port: getEmailPort(),
+      secure: isSecureEmailEnabled(),
       auth: {
-        user: process.env.EMAIL_USERNAME,
-        pass: process.env.EMAIL_PASSWORD
+        user: getEmailUsername(),
+        pass: getEmailPassword()
       },
       pool: true,
       maxConnections: 20,
       maxMessages: Infinity
     })
-    await smtpTransporter.verify()
+    const transporterVerified = await smtpTransporter.verify()
+    if (!transporterVerified) {
+      logger.error(
+        '📧 Email provider is likely misconfigured as validation failed, check config variables'
+      )
+    }
     return smtpTransporter
   } catch (e) {
     logger.error(e, '📧 Email provider is misconfigured, check config variables.')
diff --git a/packages/server/modules/shared/helpers/envHelper.ts b/packages/server/modules/shared/helpers/envHelper.ts
index 22c6fbedc..d229007b1 100644
--- a/packages/server/modules/shared/helpers/envHelper.ts
+++ b/packages/server/modules/shared/helpers/envHelper.ts
@@ -334,10 +334,6 @@ export function getOnboardingStreamCacheBustNumber() {
   return parseInt(val) || 1
 }
 
-export function getEmailFromAddress() {
-  return getStringFromEnv('EMAIL_FROM')
-}
-
 export function getMaximumProjectModelsPerPage() {
   return getIntFromEnv('MAX_PROJECT_MODELS_PER_PAGE', '500')
 }
@@ -373,6 +369,30 @@ export function isEmailEnabled() {
   return getBooleanFromEnv('EMAIL')
 }
 
+export function getEmailFromAddress() {
+  return getStringFromEnv('EMAIL_FROM')
+}
+
+export function getEmailHost() {
+  return process.env.EMAIL_HOST || '127.0.0.1'
+}
+
+export function getEmailPort() {
+  return getIntFromEnv('EMAIL_PORT', '587')
+}
+
+export function isSecureEmailEnabled() {
+  return getBooleanFromEnv('EMAIL_SECURE', true) // default to secure
+}
+
+export function getEmailUsername() {
+  return getStringFromEnv('EMAIL_USERNAME', { unsafe: true }) // can be empty
+}
+
+export function getEmailPassword() {
+  return getStringFromEnv('EMAIL_PASSWORD', { unsafe: true }) // can be empty
+}
+
 export const getFileImporterQueuePostgresUrl = () =>
   process.env['FILEIMPORT_QUEUE_POSTGRES_URL'] ?? null