diff --git a/settings/misc.settings.php b/settings/misc.settings.php
index 386bdd9..bebf464 100644
--- a/settings/misc.settings.php
+++ b/settings/misc.settings.php
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
  *   $settings['hash_salt'] = file_get_contents('/home/example/salt.txt');
  * @endcode
  */
-$settings['hash_salt'] = $settings['hash_salt'] ?? file_get_contents(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/../salt.txt');
+$settings['hash_salt'] = !empty($settings['hash_salt']) ? $settings['hash_salt'] : file_get_contents(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/../salt.txt');
 /**
  * Deployment identifier.
  *