diff --git a/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py b/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py
index aedd9d3d..39cb6a25 100644
--- a/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py
+++ b/src/openlayer/lib/tracing/tracer.py
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 
 _publish = utils.get_env_variable("OPENLAYER_DISABLE_PUBLISH") not in TRUE_LIST
 _verify_ssl = (
-    utils.get_env_variable("OPENLAYER_VERIFY_SSL", "true").lower() in TRUE_LIST
-)
+    utils.get_env_variable("OPENLAYER_VERIFY_SSL") or "true"
+).lower() in TRUE_LIST
 _client = None
 if _publish:
     if _verify_ssl: