diff --git a/server/start.go b/server/start.go
index 61d7df0db8ab..dd0b7d270ad3 100644
--- a/server/start.go
+++ b/server/start.go
@@ -122,11 +122,7 @@ which accepts a path for the resulting pprof file.
 				serverCtx.Logger.Info("starting ABCI without Tendermint")
 				return startStandAlone(serverCtx, appCreator)
 			}
-
-			if flagMinGasPricesStr, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString(FlagMinGasPrices); flagMinGasPricesStr == "" {
-				return fmt.Errorf("FlagMinGasPrices must not be empty")
-			}
-
+			
 			serverCtx.Logger.Info("starting ABCI with Tendermint")
 
 			// amino is needed here for backwards compatibility of REST routes
diff --git a/server/util.go b/server/util.go
index 68f1c4828166..37f08a63a813 100644
--- a/server/util.go
+++ b/server/util.go
@@ -230,10 +230,15 @@ func interceptConfigs(rootViper *viper.Viper) (*tmcfg.Config, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse %s: %w", appCfgFilePath, err)
 		}
+		// TODO manual testing with config
+		if appConf.MinGasPrices == ""{
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("MinGasPrices is empty in %s", appCfgFilePath)
+		}
 
 		config.WriteConfigFile(appCfgFilePath, appConf)
 	}
 
+
 	rootViper.SetConfigType("toml")
 	rootViper.SetConfigName("app")
 	rootViper.AddConfigPath(configPath)