diff --git a/assets/init b/assets/init
index 4ccc0a1b..ab6ebbd7 100755
--- a/assets/init
+++ b/assets/init
@@ -343,7 +343,11 @@ else
 fi
 sudo -u git -H sed 's/{{SMTP_DOMAIN}}/'"${SMTP_DOMAIN}"'/' -i /home/git/gitlab/config/initializers/smtp_settings.rb
 sudo -u git -H sed 's/{{SMTP_STARTTLS}}/'"${SMTP_STARTTLS}"'/' -i /home/git/gitlab/config/initializers/smtp_settings.rb
-sudo -u git -H sed 's/{{SMTP_AUTHENTICATION}}/'"${SMTP_AUTHENTICATION}"'/' -i /home/git/gitlab/config/initializers/smtp_settings.rb
+if [ -n "${SMTP_AUTHENTICATION}" ]; then
+	sudo -u git -H sed '/{{SMTP_AUTHENTICATION}}/d' -i /home/git/gitlab/config/initializers/smtp_settings.rb
+else
+	sudo -u git -H sed 's/{{SMTP_AUTHENTICATION}}/'"${SMTP_AUTHENTICATION}"'/' -i /home/git/gitlab/config/initializers/smtp_settings.rb
+fi
 
 # apply LDAP configuration
 sudo -u git -H sed 's/{{LDAP_ENABLED}}/'"${LDAP_ENABLED}"'/' -i /home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml