diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 25823b4..732c8a2 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@ PUBLIC_KEY=
 # Base64 encoded value of private key `cat key.pem | base64`
 PRIVATE_KEY=
 
-# Google Tag Manager ID
-NEXT_PUBLIC_GTM_ID=
\ No newline at end of file
+# Google Tag Manager ID. Leave as blank because removing this causes next.js build to fail.
+NEXT_PUBLIC_GTM_ID=""
diff --git a/pages/_app.tsx b/pages/_app.tsx
index 868167b..d411f62 100644
--- a/pages/_app.tsx
+++ b/pages/_app.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { useEffect } from 'react';
 
 function MyApp({ Component, pageProps }: AppProps) {
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_GTM_ID) {
+    if (process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_GTM_ID && process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_GTM_ID.length > 0) {
       TagManager.initialize({ gtmId: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_GTM_ID });
     }
   }, []);