diff --git a/app/Services/GiphyService.php b/app/Services/GiphyService.php
index e60ff667..f5e674d4 100644
--- a/app/Services/GiphyService.php
+++ b/app/Services/GiphyService.php
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class GiphyService
 
     public function __construct()
     {
-        $this->apiKey = config('services.giphy.api_key', '');
+        $this->apiKey = (string) config('services.giphy.api_key', '');
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/app/Services/UnsplashService.php b/app/Services/UnsplashService.php
index 5ac1ad9a..db16237e 100644
--- a/app/Services/UnsplashService.php
+++ b/app/Services/UnsplashService.php
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class UnsplashService
 
     public function __construct()
     {
-        $this->accessKey = config('services.unsplash.access_key', '');
+        $this->accessKey = (string) config('services.unsplash.access_key', '');
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Services/MediaSearchKeyFallbackTest.php b/tests/Unit/Services/MediaSearchKeyFallbackTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6fa85c47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/Services/MediaSearchKeyFallbackTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use App\Services\GiphyService;
+use App\Services\UnsplashService;
+
+test('unsplash service tolerates a null access key without throwing', function () {
+    config(['services.unsplash.access_key' => null]);
+
+    $result = (new UnsplashService)->search('cats');
+
+    expect($result)->toBe(['results' => [], 'total' => 0, 'total_pages' => 0]);
+});
+
+test('giphy service tolerates a null api key without throwing', function () {
+    config(['services.giphy.api_key' => null]);
+
+    $result = (new GiphyService)->search('cats');
+
+    expect($result)->toBe(['results' => [], 'total' => 0, 'total_pages' => 0]);
+});