diff --git a/src/routes/settings.js b/src/routes/settings.js
index 64369fd79..85bce2826 100644
--- a/src/routes/settings.js
+++ b/src/routes/settings.js
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ function setBackupConfig(req, res, next) {
     if ('acceptSelfSignedCerts' in req.body && typeof req.body.acceptSelfSignedCerts !== 'boolean') return next(new HttpError(400, 'format must be a boolean'));
 
     if (!req.body.retentionPolicy || typeof req.body.retentionPolicy !== 'object') return next(new HttpError(400, 'retentionPolicy is required'));
-    if (typeof req.body.retentionPolicy.keepWithinSecs !== 'number') return next(400, 'keepWithinSecs is required');
 
     // testing the backup using put/del takes a bit of time at times
     req.clearTimeout();
diff --git a/src/routes/test/cloudron-test.js b/src/routes/test/cloudron-test.js
index 0bfa0c278..693ca01a8 100644
--- a/src/routes/test/cloudron-test.js
+++ b/src/routes/test/cloudron-test.js
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ function setup(done) {
         server.start.bind(server),
         database._clear,
         settings._setApiServerOrigin.bind(null, 'http://localhost:6060'),
-        settings.setBackupConfig.bind(null, { provider: 'filesystem', backupFolder: '/tmp', format: 'tgz' })
+        settings.setBackupConfig.bind(null, { provider: 'filesystem', backupFolder: '/tmp', format: 'tgz', retentionPolicy: {} })
     ], done);
 }