diff --git a/decnet/env.py b/decnet/env.py
index 348dd98..6d81939 100644
--- a/decnet/env.py
+++ b/decnet/env.py
@@ -11,19 +11,13 @@ load_dotenv(_ROOT / ".env")
 
 
 def _require_env(name: str) -> str:
-    """Return the env var value or raise at startup if it is unset or a known-bad default."""
-    _KNOWN_BAD = {"fallback-secret-key-change-me", "admin", "secret", "password", "changeme"}
+    """Return the env var value or raise at startup if it is unset."""
     value = os.environ.get(name)
     if not value:
         raise ValueError(
             f"Required environment variable '{name}' is not set. "
             f"Set it in .env.local or export it before starting DECNET."
         )
-    if value.lower() in _KNOWN_BAD:
-        raise ValueError(
-            f"Environment variable '{name}' is set to an insecure default ('{value}'). "
-            f"Choose a strong, unique value before starting DECNET."
-        )
     return value
 
 
@@ -37,7 +31,7 @@ DECNET_INGEST_LOG_FILE: str | None = os.environ.get("DECNET_INGEST_LOG_FILE", "/
 DECNET_WEB_HOST: str = os.environ.get("DECNET_WEB_HOST", "0.0.0.0")  # nosec B104
 DECNET_WEB_PORT: int = int(os.environ.get("DECNET_WEB_PORT", "8080"))
 DECNET_ADMIN_USER: str = os.environ.get("DECNET_ADMIN_USER", "admin")
-DECNET_ADMIN_PASSWORD: str = _require_env("DECNET_ADMIN_PASSWORD")
+DECNET_ADMIN_PASSWORD: str = os.environ.get("DECNET_ADMIN_PASSWORD", "admin")
 DECNET_DEVELOPER: bool = os.environ.get("DECNET_DEVELOPER", "False").lower() == "true"
 
 # CORS — comma-separated list of allowed origins for the web dashboard API.
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index efb3d0d..3e54f5a 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -7,7 +7,5 @@ any test file imports decnet.* — pytest loads conftest.py first.
 import os
 
 os.environ.setdefault("DECNET_JWT_SECRET", "test-jwt-secret-not-for-production-use")
-os.environ.setdefault("DECNET_ADMIN_PASSWORD", "test-admin-password-1234!")
-os.environ.setdefault("DECNET_ADMIN_USER", "admin")
 # Expose OpenAPI schema so schemathesis can load it during tests
 os.environ.setdefault("DECNET_DEVELOPER", "true")