diff --git a/src/config/config.ts b/src/config/config.ts
index 850aea668..522fc8f67 100644
--- a/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.ts
@@ -11,13 +11,19 @@ convict.addFormat({
 convict.addFormat({
   name: "required-positive-number",
   validate: (val: any) => {
-    if (!val) throw new Error("value cannot be empty, null or undefined")
+    if (val === null || val === undefined || val === "")
+      throw new Error("value cannot be empty, null or undefined")
     if (typeof val !== "number") throw new Error("value must be a number")
   },
   coerce: (val: string) => {
     const coercedVal = Number(val)
-    if (coercedVal < 0) {
-      throw new Error("value must be a positive number")
+    if (isNaN(coercedVal)) {
+      throw new Error(
+        "value provided is not a positive number. please provide a valid positive number"
+      )
+    }
+    if (coercedVal <= 0) {
+      throw new Error("value must be more than zero")
     }
     return coercedVal
   },
@@ -331,7 +337,12 @@ const config = convict({
 })
 
 // Perform validation
-config.validate({ allowed: "strict" })
+// TODO: remove try-catch after prod deployment is successful to avoid blocking
+try {
+  config.validate({ allowed: "strict" })
+} catch (e: any) {
+  console.log(`Convict error: ${e}`)
+}
 
 export default config
 export { config }
diff --git a/src/database/config.js b/src/database/config.js
index 045fea9a5..43ded8222 100644
--- a/src/database/config.js
+++ b/src/database/config.js
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 const { parse } = require("pg-connection-string")
 
-const { config } = require("@config/config")
-
 // TODO: This came from a past project - I don't remember why I wrote this but let's explore later.
 // We have to manually parse database URL because sequelize-typescript requires explicit
 // connection parameters.
 
-const DB_URI = config.get("database.dbUri")
-const DB_MIN_POOL = config.get("database.dbMinPool")
-const DB_MAX_POOL = config.get("database.dbMaxPool")
+// Note: We are using process.env here instead of convict's config.get() as sequelize-cli is unable
+// to support import of TS files inside JS. Note that validation of these envs will still be
+// performed by convict in src/config/config.ts.
+const { DB_URI } = process.env
+const DB_MIN_POOL = parseInt(process.env.DB_MIN_POOL, 10)
+const DB_MAX_POOL = parseInt(process.env.DB_MAX_POOL, 10)
 
 const parsed = parse(DB_URI)
 const port = parsed.port ? parseInt(parsed.port, 10) : 5432