diff --git a/src/paperless/settings/__init__.py b/src/paperless/settings/__init__.py
index 062926d38..96b2279a7 100644
--- a/src/paperless/settings/__init__.py
+++ b/src/paperless/settings/__init__.py
@@ -1184,9 +1184,10 @@ REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT")
 # AI Settings                                                                  #
 ################################################################################
 AI_ENABLED = get_bool_from_env("PAPERLESS_AI_ENABLED", "NO")
-LLM_EMBEDDING_BACKEND = os.getenv(
+LLM_EMBEDDING_BACKEND = get_choice_from_env(
     "PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_EMBEDDING_BACKEND",
-)  # "huggingface", "openai-like", or "ollama"
+    {"huggingface", "openai-like", "ollama"},
+)
 LLM_EMBEDDING_MODEL = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_EMBEDDING_MODEL")
 LLM_EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT")
 LLM_EMBEDDING_CHUNK_SIZE = get_int_from_env(
@@ -1198,7 +1199,10 @@ if LLM_EMBEDDING_CHUNK_SIZE < 1:
 LLM_CONTEXT_SIZE = get_int_from_env("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_CONTEXT_SIZE", 8192)
 if LLM_CONTEXT_SIZE < 1:
     raise ImproperlyConfigured("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_CONTEXT_SIZE must be >= 1")
-LLM_BACKEND = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_BACKEND")  # "ollama" or "openai-like"
+LLM_BACKEND = get_choice_from_env(
+    "PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_BACKEND",
+    {"ollama", "openai-like"},
+)
 LLM_MODEL = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_MODEL")
 LLM_API_KEY = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_API_KEY")
 LLM_ENDPOINT = os.getenv("PAPERLESS_AI_LLM_ENDPOINT")
diff --git a/src/paperless/settings/custom.py b/src/paperless/settings/custom.py
index 1c66376a4..d2a853c61 100644
--- a/src/paperless/settings/custom.py
+++ b/src/paperless/settings/custom.py
@@ -209,12 +209,11 @@ def parse_db_settings(data_dir: Path) -> dict[str, dict[str, Any]]:
     Returns:
         A databases dict suitable for Django DATABASES setting.
     """
-    try:
-        engine = get_choice_from_env(
-            "PAPERLESS_DBENGINE",
-            {"sqlite", "postgresql", "mariadb"},
-        )
-    except ValueError:
+    engine = get_choice_from_env(
+        "PAPERLESS_DBENGINE",
+        {"sqlite", "postgresql", "mariadb"},
+    )
+    if engine is None:
         # MariaDB users already had to set PAPERLESS_DBENGINE, so it was picked up above
         # SQLite users didn't need to set anything
         engine = "postgresql" if "PAPERLESS_DBHOST" in os.environ else "sqlite"
diff --git a/src/paperless/settings/parsers.py b/src/paperless/settings/parsers.py
index 163633d84..cb90dbfe4 100644
--- a/src/paperless/settings/parsers.py
+++ b/src/paperless/settings/parsers.py
@@ -258,32 +258,52 @@ def get_list_from_env(
         return []
 
 
+@overload
+def get_choice_from_env(
+    env_key: str,
+    choices: set[str] | frozenset[str],
+) -> str | None: ...
+
+
+@overload
+def get_choice_from_env(
+    env_key: str,
+    choices: set[str] | frozenset[str],
+    default: None,
+) -> str | None: ...
+
+
+@overload
+def get_choice_from_env(
+    env_key: str,
+    choices: set[str] | frozenset[str],
+    default: str,
+) -> str: ...
+
+
 def get_choice_from_env(
     env_key: str,
     choices: set[str] | frozenset[str],
     default: str | None = None,
-) -> str:
+) -> str | None:
     """
     Gets and validates an environment variable against a set of allowed choices.
 
     Args:
         env_key: The environment variable key to validate
         choices: Set of valid choices for the environment variable
-        default: Optional default value if environment variable is not set
+        default: Default value if environment variable is not set; None means optional
 
     Returns:
-        The validated environment variable value
+        The validated environment variable value, or None if not set and no default
 
     Raises:
         ValueError: If the environment variable value is not in choices
-                             or if no default is provided and env var is missing
     """
     value = os.environ.get(env_key, default)
 
     if value is None:
-        raise ValueError(
-            f"Environment variable '{env_key}' is required but not set.",
-        )
+        return None
 
     if value not in choices:
         raise ValueError(
diff --git a/src/paperless/tests/settings/test_environment_parsers.py b/src/paperless/tests/settings/test_environment_parsers.py
index a013d795d..110d4c3a9 100644
--- a/src/paperless/tests/settings/test_environment_parsers.py
+++ b/src/paperless/tests/settings/test_environment_parsers.py
@@ -509,20 +509,17 @@ class TestGetEnvChoice:
 
         assert result == "staging"
 
-    def test_raises_error_when_env_not_set_and_no_default(
+    def test_returns_none_when_env_not_set_and_no_default(
         self,
         mocker: MockerFixture,
         valid_choices: set[str],
     ) -> None:
-        """Test that function raises ValueError when env var is missing and no default."""
+        """Test that function returns None when env var is missing and no default given."""
         mocker.patch.dict("os.environ", {}, clear=True)
 
-        with pytest.raises(ValueError) as exc_info:
-            get_choice_from_env("TEST_ENV", valid_choices)
+        result = get_choice_from_env("TEST_ENV", valid_choices)
 
-        assert "Environment variable 'TEST_ENV' is required but not set" in str(
-            exc_info.value,
-        )
+        assert result is None
 
     def test_raises_error_when_env_value_invalid(
         self,