diff --git a/brian_dashboard_manager/__init__.py b/brian_dashboard_manager/__init__.py
index 396ba78edf307868c9fd50f39c6c312172243c87..1f4637c0d70f0d30547ca24be961e2c44d3a68e8 100644
--- a/brian_dashboard_manager/__init__.py
+++ b/brian_dashboard_manager/__init__.py
@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ def create_app():
     :return: a new flask app instance
     """
 
-    
+    required_env_vars = ['SETTINGS_FILENAME']
+
+    assert all([n in os.environ for n in required_env_vars]), \
+        'environment variables %r must be defined' % required_env_vars
+
     app_config = config.defaults()
     if 'SETTINGS_FILENAME' in os.environ:
         with open(os.environ['SETTINGS_FILENAME']) as f:
@@ -33,9 +37,6 @@ def create_app():
     from brian_dashboard_manager.routes import update
     app.register_blueprint(update.routes, url_prefix='/update')
 
-    from brian_dashboard_manager.routes import test
-    app.register_blueprint(test.routes, url_prefix='/test')
-
     logging.info('Flask app initialized')
     environment.setup_logging()
     return app