diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 0d05e034..238bcef0 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 PORT=9000
 JWT_SECRET="<generate with: openssl rand -base64 32>"
 POSTGRES_URL="postgres://postgres:password@localhost:5432/officer"
-MAIL_TRANSPORT="smtp://localhost:1025"
 PUBLIC_URL=http://localhost:9000
 
 # Guards (CORS origin checks, rate limits, password-strength rules) are ON unless this is set to
diff --git a/scripts/setup/officer-setup.sh b/scripts/setup/officer-setup.sh
index 2e81d2da..9bc6e246 100755
--- a/scripts/setup/officer-setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup/officer-setup.sh
@@ -464,7 +464,6 @@ if ! skip; then
   ENV_VAULT_STORE_KEY="$(env_get VAULT_STORE_KEY)"
   ENV_PORT="$(env_get PORT)"
   ENV_PUBLIC_URL="$(env_get PUBLIC_URL)"
-  ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT="$(env_get MAIL_TRANSPORT)"
   ENV_DISCORD_WEBHOOK="$(env_get DISCORD_BUG_REPORT_WEBHOOK)"
   ENV_BROWSER_RELAY_PORT="$(env_get BROWSER_RELAY_PORT)"
 
@@ -522,11 +521,6 @@ if ! skip; then
   echo ""
   echo "     ALLOW_ANY_ORIGIN=${ENV_ALLOW_ANY_ORIGIN} — ${ORIGIN_WHY}"
 
-  echo ""
-  ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT="${ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT:-}"
-  read -rp "  Mail transport, blank for none [${ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT}]: " REPLY_MAIL || true
-  ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT="${REPLY_MAIL:-$ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT}"
-
   echo ""
   echo "     to write:"
   echo "       PORT=${ENV_PORT}   BROWSER_RELAY_PORT=${ENV_BROWSER_RELAY_PORT}"
diff --git a/scripts/setup/officer-setup/lib/env.sh b/scripts/setup/officer-setup/lib/env.sh
index acbd05b0..f10ad210 100644
--- a/scripts/setup/officer-setup/lib/env.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup/officer-setup/lib/env.sh
@@ -111,7 +111,6 @@ HOME_DIR="${USER_HOME}"
 # tailnet; written explicitly here so the machine's actual situation decides it.
 ALLOW_ANY_ORIGIN="${ENV_ALLOW_ANY_ORIGIN}"
 
-MAIL_TRANSPORT="${ENV_MAIL_TRANSPORT}"
 DISCORD_BUG_REPORT_WEBHOOK="${ENV_DISCORD_WEBHOOK}"
 ENVF
 
diff --git a/src/workspaces/emailer/src/transport.ts b/src/workspaces/emailer/src/transport.ts
index 04e2d571..ff9cebb8 100644
--- a/src/workspaces/emailer/src/transport.ts
+++ b/src/workspaces/emailer/src/transport.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 import { createTransport, type Transporter } from 'nodemailer';
 import { readServerSettings } from 'officerdb';
 
-const { MAIL_TRANSPORT } = process.env;
+// Configured from Settings → Server → SMTP, and from nowhere else.
+//
+// There was a MAIL_TRANSPORT fallback here until 2026-08-12, left from the old registration flow that
+// sent confirmation mail. It outlived that flow and became a second source of truth for something the
+// owner can already set in the UI — with the failure mode that a stale URL in .env silently answered
+// for a server whose settings row was simply empty. Absent settings now raise, which is the honest
+// answer and points at the screen that fixes it.
 
 type SmtpConfig = {
   provider: 'resend' | 'smtp' | 'mailhog';
@@ -32,36 +38,31 @@ type ResendTransport = { type: 'resend'; apiKey: string; from: string };
 export type TransportResult = SmtpTransport | ResendTransport;
 
 export async function getTransport(): Promise<TransportResult> {
+  // Only the read is guarded. Three outcomes that used to be one — the database is unreachable, nothing
+  // is configured, and the stored settings do not build a transport — say different things now, because
+  // the fix for each is different and the caller only ever sees this message.
+  let settings: Record<string, unknown>;
   try {
-    const settings = await readServerSettings();
-    const smtp: SmtpConfig | undefined = settings.smtp as SmtpConfig | undefined;
-    if (smtp) {
-      const from = `${smtp.fromName} <${smtp.fromEmail}>`;
-
-      if (smtp.provider === 'resend') {
-        return { type: 'resend', apiKey: smtp.apiKey ?? '', from };
-      }
-
-      const hash = JSON.stringify(smtp);
-      if (cachedTransport && cachedConfigHash === hash) {
-        return { type: 'smtp', transport: cachedTransport, from };
-      }
-      const url = buildTransportUrl(smtp);
-      cachedTransport = createTransport(url);
-      cachedConfigHash = hash;
-      return { type: 'smtp', transport: cachedTransport, from };
-    }
-  } catch {
-    // Fall through to env var
+    settings = await readServerSettings();
+  } catch (ex) {
+    throw new Error(`Could not read the SMTP settings: ${ex instanceof Error ? ex.message : String(ex)}`);
   }
 
-  if (MAIL_TRANSPORT) {
-    if (!cachedTransport || cachedConfigHash !== 'env') {
-      cachedTransport = createTransport(MAIL_TRANSPORT);
-      cachedConfigHash = 'env';
-    }
-    return { type: 'smtp', transport: cachedTransport, from: null };
+  const smtp: SmtpConfig | undefined = settings.smtp as SmtpConfig | undefined;
+  if (!smtp) throw new Error('No email transport configured — set one in Settings → Server → SMTP');
+
+  const from = `${smtp.fromName} <${smtp.fromEmail}>`;
+
+  if (smtp.provider === 'resend') {
+    return { type: 'resend', apiKey: smtp.apiKey ?? '', from };
   }
 
-  throw new Error('No email transport configured');
+  const hash = JSON.stringify(smtp);
+  if (cachedTransport && cachedConfigHash === hash) {
+    return { type: 'smtp', transport: cachedTransport, from };
+  }
+  const url = buildTransportUrl(smtp);
+  cachedTransport = createTransport(url);
+  cachedConfigHash = hash;
+  return { type: 'smtp', transport: cachedTransport, from };
 }