diff --git a/cms/envs/aws.py b/cms/envs/aws.py
index ef69c51d12..edf67badfe 100644
--- a/cms/envs/aws.py
+++ b/cms/envs/aws.py
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN = ENV_TOKENS.get('SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN')
 for feature, value in ENV_TOKENS.get('MITX_FEATURES', {}).items():
     MITX_FEATURES[feature] = value
 
-SEGMENT_IO_KEY = ENV_TOKENS.get('SEGMENT_IO_KEY')
+# load segment.io key, provide a dummy if it does not exist
+SEGMENT_IO_KEY = ENV_TOKENS.get('SEGMENT_IO_KEY', '***REMOVED***')
 
 LOGGING = get_logger_config(LOG_DIR,
                             logging_env=ENV_TOKENS['LOGGING_ENV'],
diff --git a/cms/envs/test.py b/cms/envs/test.py
index 7d898de478..820b2cbe23 100644
--- a/cms/envs/test.py
+++ b/cms/envs/test.py
@@ -119,5 +119,5 @@ PASSWORD_HASHERS = (
     'django.contrib.auth.hashers.MD5PasswordHasher',
 )
 
-# segment-io key for dev
-SEGMENT_IO_KEY = 'mty8edrrsg'
+# dummy segment-io key
+SEGMENT_IO_KEY = '***REMOVED***'