diff --git a/conf-template/starport.conf b/conf-template/starport.conf
index b968ce2..82a86dc 100644
--- a/conf-template/starport.conf
+++ b/conf-template/starport.conf
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ krux.starport {
         EXAMPLE_ENVIRONMENT_VAR_2 = "some-value"
     }
 
-    # slack webhook to be used
+    # slack webhook to be used (optional)
     slack_webhook_url = ???
 
     # graphite integration
diff --git a/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/config/StarportSettings.scala b/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/config/StarportSettings.scala
index 33f7349..a6b313a 100644
--- a/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/config/StarportSettings.scala
+++ b/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/config/StarportSettings.scala
@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@ import java.net.URL
 
 import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
 import scala.collection.{Map => IMap}
+import scala.util.Try
 
 import com.typesafe.config.{Config, ConfigFactory, ConfigValueType}
 
-import com.krux.starport.net.StarportURLStreamHandlerFactory
 import com.krux.starport.metric.MetricSettings
+import com.krux.starport.net.StarportURLStreamHandlerFactory
 
 
 class StarportSettings(val config: Config) extends Serializable {
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ class StarportSettings(val config: Config) extends Serializable {
       v.unwrapped.asInstanceOf[String]
     }
 
-  val slackWebhookURL: String = config.getString("krux.starport.slack_webhook_url")
+  val slackWebhookURL: Option[String] = Try(config.getString("krux.starport.slack_webhook_url")).toOption
 
 }
 
diff --git a/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/db/tool/SubmitPipeline.scala b/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/db/tool/SubmitPipeline.scala
index b75f9e6..c2fa56d 100644
--- a/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/db/tool/SubmitPipeline.scala
+++ b/starport-core/src/main/scala/com/krux/starport/db/tool/SubmitPipeline.scala
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ object SubmitPipeline extends DateTimeFunctions with WaitForIt with DateTimeMapp
 
   private val ValidEmail = """^([a-zA-Z0-9.!#$%&’'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+)@([a-zA-Z0-9-]+(?:\.[a-zA-Z0-9-]+)*)$""".r
 
+  lazy val starportSettings = StarportSettings()
+
   case class Options(
     jar: String = "",
     pipelineObject: String = "",
@@ -48,19 +50,21 @@ object SubmitPipeline extends DateTimeFunctions with WaitForIt with DateTimeMapp
     pipelineDef.getField("MODULE$").get(null).asInstanceOf[DataPipelineDefGroup].schedule.asInstanceOf[RecurringSchedule]
   }
 
-  private def sendSlackNotification(message: String) = {
-    logger.info("Sending Slack Notification")
-
-    SendSlackMessage(
-      webhookUrl = StarportSettings().slackWebhookURL,
-      message = Seq(
-        "Pipeline " + message,
-        ":robot_face: StarportScheduler",
-        "Requested By: " + System.getProperties().get("user.name").toString()
-      ),
-      user = Option("starport"),
-      channel = Option("#robots")
-    )
+  private def sendSlackNotification(message: String) = starportSettings.slackWebhookURL match {
+    case Some(webhook) =>
+      logger.info("Sending Slack Notification")
+      SendSlackMessage(
+        webhookUrl = webhook,
+        message = Seq(
+          "Pipeline " + message,
+          ":robot_face: StarportScheduler",
+          "Requested By: " + System.getProperties().get("user.name").toString()
+        ),
+        user = Option("starport"),
+        channel = Option("#robots")
+      )
+    case None =>
+      logger.warn("krux.starport.slack_webhook_url not configured, skip sending slack notification")
   }
 
   def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
@@ -150,7 +154,7 @@ object SubmitPipeline extends DateTimeFunctions with WaitForIt with DateTimeMapp
           println("Dry Run. Skip sending the querys...")
           dryRunOutput
         } else {
-          val db = StarportSettings().jdbc.db
+          val db = starportSettings.jdbc.db
           db.run(query).waitForResult
         }
       }
diff --git a/version.sbt b/version.sbt
index 5797fe6..8ca0de4 100644
--- a/version.sbt
+++ b/version.sbt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-version in ThisBuild := "5.0.0"
+version in ThisBuild := "5.0.1"