diff --git a/src/dlt/gateway/dltApp/src/fabricConnect.ts b/src/dlt/gateway/dltApp/src/fabricConnect.ts
index 4bef9b3356bb61f21410d3760228622d245b5e0b..85ad15b2effe49a810b76b2415931b934c366c8f 100644
--- a/src/dlt/gateway/dltApp/src/fabricConnect.ts
+++ b/src/dlt/gateway/dltApp/src/fabricConnect.ts
@@ -21,27 +21,27 @@ import { TextDecoder } from 'util';
 import * as dotenv from 'dotenv';
 
 dotenv.config({ path: path.resolve(__dirname, '..', '.env') });
-const channelName = envOrDefault('CHANNEL_NAME', 'channel1');
-const chaincodeName = envOrDefault('CHAINCODE_NAME', 'adrenalineDLT');
-const mspId = envOrDefault('MSP_ID', 'Org1MSP');
+const channelName = getEnvVar('CHANNEL_NAME');
+const chaincodeName = getEnvVar('CHAINCODE_NAME');
+const mspId = getEnvVar('MSP_ID');
 
 // Path to crypto materials.
-const cryptoPath = envOrDefault('CRYPTO_PATH', path.resolve(__dirname, '..', '..', '..', 'test-network', 'organizations', 'peerOrganizations', 'org1.adrenaline.com'));
+const cryptoPath = getEnvVar('CRYPTO_PATH');
 
 // Path to user private key directory.
-const keyDirectoryPath = envOrDefault('KEY_DIRECTORY_PATH', path.resolve(cryptoPath, 'users', 'User1@org1.adrenaline.com', 'msp', 'keystore'));
+const keyDirectoryPath = getEnvVar('KEY_DIRECTORY_PATH');
 
 // Path to user certificate directory.
-const certDirectoryPath = envOrDefault('CERT_DIRECTORY_PATH', path.resolve(cryptoPath, 'users', 'User1@org1.adrenaline.com', 'msp', 'signcerts'));
+const certDirectoryPath = getEnvVar('CERT_DIRECTORY_PATH');
 
 // Path to peer tls certificate.
-const tlsCertPath = envOrDefault('TLS_CERT_PATH', path.resolve(cryptoPath, 'peers', 'peer1.org1.adrenaline.com', 'tls', 'ca.crt'));
+const tlsCertPath = getEnvVar('TLS_CERT_PATH');
 
 // Gateway peer endpoint.
-const peerEndpoint = envOrDefault('PEER_ENDPOINT', 'localhost:7051');
+const peerEndpoint = getEnvVar('PEER_ENDPOINT');
 
 // Gateway peer SSL host name override.
-const peerHostAlias = envOrDefault('PEER_HOST_ALIAS', 'peer1.org1.adrenaline.com');
+const peerHostAlias = getEnvVar('PEER_HOST_ALIAS');
 
 const utf8Decoder = new TextDecoder();
 const assetId = `asset${Date.now()}`;
@@ -154,10 +154,14 @@ async function initLedger(contract: Contract): Promise<void> {
 
 
 /**
- * envOrDefault() will return the value of an environment variable, or a default value if the variable is undefined.
+ * getEnvVar() will return the value of an environment variable.
  */
-function envOrDefault(key: string, defaultValue: string): string {
-    return process.env[key] || defaultValue;
+function getEnvVar(varName: string): string {
+    const value = process.env[varName];
+    if (!value) {
+        throw new Error(`Environment variable ${varName} is not set`);
+    }
+    return value;
 }
 
 /**