diff --git a/event_sidecar/src/lib.rs b/event_sidecar/src/lib.rs
index 56da9ba2..1a62c817 100644
--- a/event_sidecar/src/lib.rs
+++ b/event_sidecar/src/lib.rs
@@ -89,7 +89,9 @@ pub async fn run(
         outbound_sse_data_receiver,
         config
             .emulate_legacy_sse_apis
-            .contains(&LegacySseApiTag::V1),
+            .as_ref()
+            .map(|v| v.contains(&LegacySseApiTag::V1))
+            .unwrap_or(false),
     );
     info!(address = %config.event_stream_server.port, "started {} server", "SSE");
     tokio::try_join!(
diff --git a/event_sidecar/src/types/config.rs b/event_sidecar/src/types/config.rs
index 0a826358..5c1d74a6 100644
--- a/event_sidecar/src/types/config.rs
+++ b/event_sidecar/src/types/config.rs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ pub enum LegacySseApiTag {
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Deserialize, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub struct SseEventServerConfig {
     pub enable_server: bool,
-    pub emulate_legacy_sse_apis: Vec<LegacySseApiTag>,
+    pub emulate_legacy_sse_apis: Option<Vec<LegacySseApiTag>>,
     pub inbound_channel_size: Option<usize>,
     pub outbound_channel_size: Option<usize>,
     pub connections: Vec<Connection>,
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ impl Default for SseEventServerConfig {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
             enable_server: true,
-            emulate_legacy_sse_apis: vec![LegacySseApiTag::V1],
+            emulate_legacy_sse_apis: Some(vec![LegacySseApiTag::V1]),
             inbound_channel_size: Some(100),
             outbound_channel_size: Some(100),
             connections: vec![],