diff --git a/lib/automaticupgrades/channel.go b/lib/automaticupgrades/channel.go
index de2ba83acb796..15cced5eb6f43 100644
--- a/lib/automaticupgrades/channel.go
+++ b/lib/automaticupgrades/channel.go
@@ -179,9 +179,10 @@ func (c *Channel) GetCritical(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
 }
 
 // NewDefaultChannel creates a default automatic upgrade channel
-// It looks up the environment variable, and if not found uses the default
-// base URL. This default channel can be used in the proxy (to back its own version server)
-// or in other Teleport process such as integration services deploying and
+// It looks up the TELEPORT_AUTOMATIC_UPGRADES_CHANNEL environment variable for
+// backward compatibility, and if not found uses the default base URL.
+// This default channel can be used in the proxy (to back its own version server)
+// or in other Teleport processes such as integration services deploying and
 // updating teleport agents.
 func NewDefaultChannel() (*Channel, error) {
 	forwardURL := GetChannel()
diff --git a/lib/web/apiserver.go b/lib/web/apiserver.go
index 7b6ab279d3961..64bf9df81c024 100644
--- a/lib/web/apiserver.go
+++ b/lib/web/apiserver.go
@@ -1492,9 +1492,7 @@ func (h *Handler) getWebConfig(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, p httprou
 	var automaticUpgradesTargetVersion string
 	if automaticUpgradesEnabled {
 		automaticUpgradesTargetVersion, err = h.cfg.AutomaticUpgradesChannels.DefaultVersion(r.Context())
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, trace.Wrap(err)
-		}
+		h.log.WithError(err).Error("Cannot read target version")
 	}
 
 	webCfg := webclient.WebConfig{