diff --git a/cmd/cocoon/main.go b/cmd/cocoon/main.go
--- a/cmd/cocoon/main.go
+++ b/cmd/cocoon/main.go
@@ -132,11 +132,6 @@ Name:    "session-secret",
 				EnvVars: []string{"COCOON_SESSION_SECRET"},
 			},
 			&cli.StringFlag{
-				Name:    "default-atproto-proxy",
-				EnvVars: []string{"COCOON_DEFAULT_ATPROTO_PROXY"},
-				Value:   "did:web:api.bsky.app#bsky_appview",
-			},
-			&cli.StringFlag{
 				Name:    "blockstore-variant",
 				EnvVars: []string{"COCOON_BLOCKSTORE_VARIANT"},
 				Value:   "sqlite",
@@ -189,9 +184,8 @@ Endpoint:       cmd.String("s3-endpoint"),
 				AccessKey:      cmd.String("s3-access-key"),
 				SecretKey:      cmd.String("s3-secret-key"),
 			},
-			SessionSecret:       cmd.String("session-secret"),
-			DefaultAtprotoProxy: cmd.String("default-atproto-proxy"),
-			BlockstoreVariant:   server.MustReturnBlockstoreVariant(cmd.String("blockstore-variant")),
+			SessionSecret:     cmd.String("session-secret"),
+			BlockstoreVariant: server.MustReturnBlockstoreVariant(cmd.String("blockstore-variant")),
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("error creating cocoon: %v", err)
diff --git a/server/handle_proxy.go b/server/handle_proxy.go
--- a/server/handle_proxy.go
+++ b/server/handle_proxy.go
@@ -19,9 +19,6 @@ )
 
 func (s *Server) getAtprotoProxyEndpointFromRequest(e echo.Context) (string, string, error) {
 	svc := e.Request().Header.Get("atproto-proxy")
-	if svc == "" {
-		svc = s.config.DefaultAtprotoProxy
-	}
 
 	svcPts := strings.Split(svc, "#")
 	if len(svcPts) != 2 {
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -104,23 +104,20 @@ S3Config *S3Config
 
 	SessionSecret string
 
-	DefaultAtprotoProxy string
-
 	BlockstoreVariant BlockstoreVariant
 }
 
 type config struct {
-	Version             string
-	Did                 string
-	Hostname            string
-	ContactEmail        string
-	EnforcePeering      bool
-	Relays              []string
-	AdminPassword       string
-	SmtpEmail           string
-	SmtpName            string
-	DefaultAtprotoProxy string
-	BlockstoreVariant   BlockstoreVariant
+	Version           string
+	Did               string
+	Hostname          string
+	ContactEmail      string
+	EnforcePeering    bool
+	Relays            []string
+	AdminPassword     string
+	SmtpEmail         string
+	SmtpName          string
+	BlockstoreVariant BlockstoreVariant
 }
 
 type CustomValidator struct {
@@ -343,17 +340,16 @@ db:         dbw,
 		plcClient:  plcClient,
 		privateKey: &pkey,
 		config: &config{
-			Version:             args.Version,
-			Did:                 args.Did,
-			Hostname:            args.Hostname,
-			ContactEmail:        args.ContactEmail,
-			EnforcePeering:      false,
-			Relays:              args.Relays,
-			AdminPassword:       args.AdminPassword,
-			SmtpName:            args.SmtpName,
-			SmtpEmail:           args.SmtpEmail,
-			DefaultAtprotoProxy: args.DefaultAtprotoProxy,
-			BlockstoreVariant:   args.BlockstoreVariant,
+			Version:           args.Version,
+			Did:               args.Did,
+			Hostname:          args.Hostname,
+			ContactEmail:      args.ContactEmail,
+			EnforcePeering:    false,
+			Relays:            args.Relays,
+			AdminPassword:     args.AdminPassword,
+			SmtpName:          args.SmtpName,
+			SmtpEmail:         args.SmtpEmail,
+			BlockstoreVariant: args.BlockstoreVariant,
 		},
 		evtman:   events.NewEventManager(events.NewMemPersister()),
 		passport: identity.NewPassport(h, identity.NewMemCache(10_000)),