diff --git a/infra/operator/main.tf b/infra/operator/main.tf
index aa631078..1054ba78 100644
--- a/infra/operator/main.tf
+++ b/infra/operator/main.tf
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ locals {
       hostname = inst
       cfg = {
         # enable if any user applications are enabled
-        enable = anytrue([for _, app in local.application_configs: app.cfg.enable])
+        enable = anytrue([for _, app in local.application_configs: try(app.cfg.enable, false)])
       }
     }
   }
@@ -70,5 +70,5 @@ module "nixos" {
         ];
       }
     EOF
-  }) if inst.cfg.enable}
+  }) if try(inst.cfg.enable, false)}
 }
diff --git a/panel/src/panel/views.py b/panel/src/panel/views.py
index 2f1abb37..d168a3a1 100644
--- a/panel/src/panel/views.py
+++ b/panel/src/panel/views.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class DeploymentStatus(ConfigurationForm):
         } | {
             # pass in form info to our deployment
             # FIXME: ensure sensitive info is protected
-            f"TF_VAR_{k}": v if isinstance(v, str) else json.dumps(v) for k, v in config.json().items()
+            f"TF_VAR_{k}": v if isinstance(v, str) else json.dumps(v) for k, v in json.loads(config.model_dump_json()).items()
         }
         logger.info("env: %s", env)
         cwd = f"{settings.repo_dir}/infra/operator"