diff --git a/backend/src/__tests__/config.test.ts b/backend/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
index 2370fe7a1..8097a2465 100644
--- a/backend/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
+++ b/backend/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
@@ -191,30 +191,31 @@ describe('Mempool Backend Config', () => {
             }
             continue;
           }
-          switch (typeof value) {
-            case 'object': {
-              if (Array.isArray(value)) {
-                continue;
-              } else {
-                parseJson(value, key);
-              }
-              break;
-            }
-            default: {
+
+          if (root) {
               //The flattened string, i.e, __MEMPOOL_ENABLED__
               const replaceStr = `${root ? '__' + root + '_' : '__'}${key}__`;
 
               //The string used as the environment variable, i.e, MEMPOOL_ENABLED
               const envVarStr = `${root ? root : ''}_${key}`;
 
+              let defaultEntry;
               //The string used as the default value, to be checked as a regex, i.e, __MEMPOOL_ENABLED__=${MEMPOOL_ENABLED:=(.*)}
-              const defaultEntry = replaceStr + '=' + '\\${' + envVarStr + ':=(.*)' + '}';
-
-              if (process.env.CI) {
-                console.log(`looking for ${defaultEntry} in the start.sh script`);
+              if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+                defaultEntry = `${replaceStr}=\${${envVarStr}:=[]}`;
+                if (process.env.CI) {
+                  console.log(`looking for ${defaultEntry} in the start.sh script`);
+                }
+                //Regex matching does not work with the array values
+                expect(startSh).toContain(defaultEntry);
+              } else {
+                 defaultEntry = replaceStr + '=' + '\\${' + envVarStr + ':=(.*)' + '}';
+                 if (process.env.CI) {
+                  console.log(`looking for ${defaultEntry} in the start.sh script`);
+                }
+                const re = new RegExp(defaultEntry);
+                expect(startSh).toMatch(re);
               }
-              const re = new RegExp(defaultEntry);
-              expect(startSh).toMatch(re);
 
               //The string that actually replaces the values in the config file
               const sedStr = 'sed -i "s!' + replaceStr + '!${' + replaceStr + '}!g" mempool-config.json';
@@ -222,11 +223,13 @@ describe('Mempool Backend Config', () => {
                 console.log(`looking for ${sedStr} in the start.sh script`);
               }
               expect(startSh).toContain(sedStr);
-              break;
             }
+          else {
+            parseJson(value, key);
           }
         }
       }
+
       parseJson(fixture);
     });
   });
diff --git a/docker/backend/mempool-config.json b/docker/backend/mempool-config.json
index e283d1171..aa084133f 100644
--- a/docker/backend/mempool-config.json
+++ b/docker/backend/mempool-config.json
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
     "REST_API_URL": "__ESPLORA_REST_API_URL__",
     "UNIX_SOCKET_PATH": "__ESPLORA_UNIX_SOCKET_PATH__",
     "RETRY_UNIX_SOCKET_AFTER": __ESPLORA_RETRY_UNIX_SOCKET_AFTER__,
-    "FALLBACK": __ESPLORA_FALLBACK__,
+    "FALLBACK": __ESPLORA_FALLBACK__
   },
   "SECOND_CORE_RPC": {
     "HOST": "__SECOND_CORE_RPC_HOST__",
diff --git a/docker/backend/start.sh b/docker/backend/start.sh
index 681872681..2e293ce34 100755
--- a/docker/backend/start.sh
+++ b/docker/backend/start.sh
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ __ELECTRUM_TLS_ENABLED__=${ELECTRUM_TLS_ENABLED:=false}
 __ESPLORA_REST_API_URL__=${ESPLORA_REST_API_URL:=http://127.0.0.1:3000}
 __ESPLORA_UNIX_SOCKET_PATH__=${ESPLORA_UNIX_SOCKET_PATH:="null"}
 __ESPLORA_RETRY_UNIX_SOCKET_AFTER__=${ESPLORA_RETRY_UNIX_SOCKET_AFTER:=30000}
+__ESPLORA_FALLBACK__=${ESPLORA_FALLBACK:=[]}
 
 # SECOND_CORE_RPC
 __SECOND_CORE_RPC_HOST__=${SECOND_CORE_RPC_HOST:=127.0.0.1}
@@ -192,6 +193,7 @@ sed -i "s!__ELECTRUM_TLS_ENABLED__!${__ELECTRUM_TLS_ENABLED__}!g" mempool-config
 sed -i "s!__ESPLORA_REST_API_URL__!${__ESPLORA_REST_API_URL__}!g" mempool-config.json
 sed -i "s!__ESPLORA_UNIX_SOCKET_PATH__!${__ESPLORA_UNIX_SOCKET_PATH__}!g" mempool-config.json
 sed -i "s!__ESPLORA_RETRY_UNIX_SOCKET_AFTER__!${__ESPLORA_RETRY_UNIX_SOCKET_AFTER__}!g" mempool-config.json
+sed -i "s!__ESPLORA_FALLBACK__!${__ESPLORA_FALLBACK__}!g" mempool-config.json
 
 sed -i "s!__SECOND_CORE_RPC_HOST__!${__SECOND_CORE_RPC_HOST__}!g" mempool-config.json
 sed -i "s!__SECOND_CORE_RPC_PORT__!${__SECOND_CORE_RPC_PORT__}!g" mempool-config.json