diff --git a/plugins/memory/hindsight/__init__.py b/plugins/memory/hindsight/__init__.py
index 2b233e265..b3126a0b2 100644
--- a/plugins/memory/hindsight/__init__.py
+++ b/plugins/memory/hindsight/__init__.py
@@ -434,8 +434,10 @@ class HindsightMemoryProvider(MemoryProvider):
             sys.stdout.write("  LLM API key: ")
             sys.stdout.flush()
             llm_key = getpass.getpass(prompt="") if sys.stdin.isatty() else sys.stdin.readline().strip()
-            if llm_key:
-                env_writes["HINDSIGHT_LLM_API_KEY"] = llm_key
+            # Always write explicitly (including empty) so the provider sees ""
+            # rather than a missing variable.  The daemon reads from .env at
+            # startup and fails when HINDSIGHT_LLM_API_KEY is unset.
+            env_writes["HINDSIGHT_LLM_API_KEY"] = llm_key
 
         # Step 4: Save everything
         provider_config["bank_id"] = "hermes"