diff --git a/gordo/reporters/mlflow.py b/gordo/reporters/mlflow.py
index c31cc3ddc..d8e01014c 100644
--- a/gordo/reporters/mlflow.py
+++ b/gordo/reporters/mlflow.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import logging
 import os
 import tempfile
-from typing import List
+from typing import List, Optional
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 from azureml.core import Workspace
@@ -284,37 +284,28 @@ def get_batch_kwargs(machine: Machine) -> dict:
     return {"metrics": metric_list, "params": param_list}
 
 
-def get_kwargs_from_secret(name: str, keys: List[str]) -> dict:
+def get_kwargs_from_secret(secret_str: str, keys: List[str]) -> dict:
     """
     Get keyword arguments dictionary from secrets environment variable
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    name: str
-        Name of the environment variable whose content is a colon separated
-        list of secrets.
+    secret_str: str
+        String of a colon separated list of secrets.
+    keys: List[str]
+        List of keys associated with each element in secrets string.
 
     Returns
     -------
     kwargs: dict
         Dictionary of keyword arguments parsed from environment variable.
     """
-    secret_str = os.getenv(name)
-
-    if secret_str is None:
-        raise MlflowLoggingError(f"The value for env var '{name}' must not be `None`.")
-
-    if secret_str:
-        elements = secret_str.split(":")
-        if len(elements) != len(keys):
-            raise MlflowLoggingError(
-                "`keys` len {len(keys)} must be of equal length with env var {name} elements {len(elements)}."
-            )
-        kwargs = {key: elements[i] for i, key in enumerate(keys)}
-    else:
-        kwargs = {}
-
-    return kwargs
+    elements = secret_str.split(":")
+    if len(elements) != len(keys):
+        raise MlflowLoggingError(
+            f"`keys` len {len(keys)} must be of equal number of elements {len(elements)} parsed from secrets str."
+        )
+    return {key: elements[i] for i, key in enumerate(keys)}
 
 
 def get_workspace_kwargs() -> dict:
@@ -330,8 +321,13 @@ def get_workspace_kwargs() -> dict:
         AzureML Workspace configuration to use for remote MLFlow tracking. See
         :func:`gordo.builder.mlflow_utils.get_mlflow_client`.
     """
-    return get_kwargs_from_secret(
-        "AZUREML_WORKSPACE_STR", ["subscription_id", "resource_group", "workspace_name"]
+    secret_str = os.getenv("AZUREML_WORKSPACE_STR")
+    return (
+        get_kwargs_from_secret(
+            secret_str, ["subscription_id", "resource_group", "workspace_name"]
+        )
+        if secret_str
+        else dict()
     )
 
 
@@ -348,9 +344,15 @@ def get_spauth_kwargs() -> dict:
         AzureML ServicePrincipalAuthentication keyword arguments. See
         :func:`gordo.builder.mlflow_utils.get_mlflow_client`
     """
-    return get_kwargs_from_secret(
-        "DL_SERVICE_AUTH_STR",
-        ["tenant_id", "service_principal_id", "service_principal_password"],
+
+    secret_str = os.getenv("DL_SERVICE_AUTH_STR")
+    return (
+        get_kwargs_from_secret(
+            secret_str,
+            ["tenant_id", "service_principal_id", "service_principal_password"],
+        )
+        if secret_str
+        else dict()
     )
 
 
@@ -433,6 +435,7 @@ def report(self, machine: Machine):
 
         workspace_kwargs = get_workspace_kwargs()
         service_principal_kwargs = get_spauth_kwargs()
+
         cache_key = ModelBuilder.calculate_cache_key(machine)
 
         with mlflow_context(
diff --git a/tests/gordo/reporters/test_mlflow_reporter.py b/tests/gordo/reporters/test_mlflow_reporter.py
index d497ae192..f55c368b3 100644
--- a/tests/gordo/reporters/test_mlflow_reporter.py
+++ b/tests/gordo/reporters/test_mlflow_reporter.py
@@ -196,41 +196,42 @@ def _test_mlflow_batch_arg_types(metadata):
     _test_mlflow_batch_arg_types(metadata)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "secret_str,keys,keys_valid",
-    [
-        ("dummy1:dummy2:dummy3", ["key1", "key2", "key3"], True),
-        ("dummy1:dummy2:dummy3", ["key1", "key2"], False),
-    ],
-)
-def test_get_kwargs_from_secret(monkeypatch, secret_str, keys, keys_valid):
+def test_get_kwargs_from_secret_invalid():
     """
-    Test that service principal kwargs are generated correctly if env var present
+    Test that method fails with number of secret elements mismatch number of keys
     """
-    env_var_name = "TEST_SECRET"
-
-    # TEST_SECRET doesn't exist as env var
     with pytest.raises(ReporterException):
-        mlu.get_kwargs_from_secret(env_var_name, keys)
+        mlu.get_kwargs_from_secret("dummy1:dummy2:dummy3", ["key1", "key2"])
 
-    # TEST_SECRET exists as env var
-    monkeypatch.setenv(name=env_var_name, value=secret_str)
-    if keys_valid:
-        kwargs = mlu.get_kwargs_from_secret(env_var_name, keys)
-        for key, value in zip(keys, secret_str.split(":")):
-            assert kwargs[key] == value
-    else:
-        with pytest.raises(ReporterException):
-            mlu.get_kwargs_from_secret(env_var_name, keys)
+    with pytest.raises(AttributeError):
+        mlu.get_kwargs_from_secret(None, ["key1", "key2"])
 
+def test_workspace_kwargs(monkeypatch):
+    """
+    Test that appropriate kwargs dict is returned
+    """
+    assert mlu.get_workspace_kwargs() == {}
 
-def test_workspace_spauth_kwargs():
-    """Make sure an error is thrown when env vars not set"""
-    with pytest.raises(ReporterException):
-        mlu.get_workspace_kwargs()
+    monkeypatch.setenv("AZUREML_WORKSPACE_STR", "test:test:test")
+    assert mlu.get_workspace_kwargs() == {
+        "subscription_id": "test",
+        "resource_group": "test",
+        "workspace_name": "test",
+    }
 
-    with pytest.raises(ReporterException):
-        mlu.get_spauth_kwargs()
+def test_spauth_kwargs(monkeypatch):
+    """
+    Test that appropriate kwargs dict is returned
+    """
+
+    assert mlu.get_spauth_kwargs() == {}
+
+    monkeypatch.setenv("DL_SERVICE_AUTH_STR", "test:test:test")
+    assert mlu.get_spauth_kwargs() == {
+        "tenant_id": "test",
+        "service_principal_id": "test",
+        "service_principal_password": "test",
+    }
 
 
 def test_MachineEncoder(metadata):