diff --git a/backend/src/caching.ts b/backend/src/caching.ts
index 1349911f..b0591796 100644
--- a/backend/src/caching.ts
+++ b/backend/src/caching.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ async function initializeClient(): Promise<CacheClient> {
     const cachingPort = getEnvVar(envVars.CachePort);
     const cachingUrl = `${cachingHost}:${cachingPort}`;
 
+    if (cachingHost === '') {
+        return cacheClient;
+    }
+
     cacheClient = Client.create(cachingUrl);
 
     getLogger().info(`Memcached client initialized at ${cachingUrl}`);
diff --git a/backend/src/util/api-helper.ts b/backend/src/util/api-helper.ts
index d1e87075..e0c42e3a 100644
--- a/backend/src/util/api-helper.ts
+++ b/backend/src/util/api-helper.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { getCacheClient } from '../caching.js';
 import { envVars, getEnvVar, getNumericEnvVar } from './envVars.js';
 import { createHash } from 'crypto';
 
+const cacheClient = await getCacheClient();
 const logger: Logger = getLogger();
 const runMode: string = getEnvVar(envVars.RunMode);
 const prefix: string = getEnvVar(envVars.CacheKeyPrefix);
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ interface Options {
  * @returns The response data if successful, or null if an error occurs.
  */
 export async function fetchRemote<T>(url: string, description: string, options?: Options, cacheTTL?: number): Promise<T | null> {
-    if (runMode !== 'dev' && !runMode.includes('test')) {
+    if (runMode !== 'dev' && !runMode.includes('test') && cacheClient !== undefined) {
         return fetchWithCache<T>(url, description, options, cacheTTL);
     }
 
@@ -41,9 +42,8 @@ async function fetchWithCache<T>(url: string, description: string, options?: Opt
     const urlWithParams = `${url}${options?.params ? JSON.stringify(options.params) : ''}`;
     const hashedUrl = createHash('sha256').update(urlWithParams).digest('hex');
     const key = `${prefix}:${hashedUrl}`;
-    const client = await getCacheClient();
 
-    const cachedData = await client.get(key);
+    const cachedData = await cacheClient.get(key);
 
     if (cachedData?.value) {
         logger.debug(`✅ INFO: Cache hit for ${description} at "${url}" (key: "${key}")`);
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ async function fetchWithCache<T>(url: string, description: string, options?: Opt
     const response = await fetchWithLogging<T>(url, description, options);
 
     const ttl = cacheTTL || getNumericEnvVar(envVars.CacheTTL);
-    await client.set(key, JSON.stringify(response), { expires: ttl });
+    await cacheClient.set(key, JSON.stringify(response), { expires: ttl });
     logger.debug(`✅ INFO: Cached response for ${description} at "${url}" for ${ttl} seconds. (key: "${key}")`);
 
     return response;
diff --git a/backend/src/util/envVars.ts b/backend/src/util/envVars.ts
index dd936a10..b4d03c68 100644
--- a/backend/src/util/envVars.ts
+++ b/backend/src/util/envVars.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ export const envVars: Record<string, EnvVar> = {
     LogLevel: { key: LOGGING_PREFIX + 'LEVEL', defaultValue: 'info' },
     LokiHost: { key: LOGGING_PREFIX + 'LOKI_HOST', defaultValue: 'http://localhost:3102' },
 
-    CacheHost: { key: CACHE_PREFIX + 'HOST', defaultValue: 'localhost' },
+    CacheHost: { key: CACHE_PREFIX + 'HOST' },
     CachePort: { key: CACHE_PREFIX + 'PORT', defaultValue: 11211 },
     CacheTTL: { key: CACHE_PREFIX + 'TTL', defaultValue: 60 * 60 * 24 }, // 24 hours
     CacheKeyPrefix: { key: CACHE_PREFIX + 'KEY_PREFIX', defaultValue: 'dwengo' },
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export function getEnvVar(envVar: EnvVar): string {
     } else if (envVar.required) {
         throw new Error(`Missing environment variable: ${envVar.key}`);
     } else {
-        return String(envVar.defaultValue) || '';
+        return (envVar.defaultValue !== undefined) ? String(envVar.defaultValue) || '' : '';
     }
 }