diff --git a/misc/watcher.py b/misc/watcher.py
index a161ede2..168c9998 100644
--- a/misc/watcher.py
+++ b/misc/watcher.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ OUTPUT_DIRECTORY = os.getenv('OCR_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY', '/output')
 OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_YEAR_MONTH = bool(os.getenv('OCR_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_YEAR_MONTH', False))
 ON_SUCCESS_DELETE = bool(os.getenv('OCR_ON_SUCCESS_DELETE', False))
 DESKEW = bool(os.getenv('OCR_DESKEW', False))
-OCR_JSON_SETTINGS = json.loads(os.getenv('OCR_JSON_SETTINGS', ''))
+OCR_JSON_SETTINGS = json.loads(os.getenv('OCR_JSON_SETTINGS', '{}'))
 POLL_NEW_FILE_SECONDS = os.getenv('OCR_POLL_NEW_FILE_SECONDS', 1)
 LOGLEVEL = os.environ.get('OCR_LOGLEVEL', 'INFO').upper()
 PATTERNS = ['*.pdf']