diff --git a/cmd/karma/main.go b/cmd/karma/main.go
index 124261c1c..34c8f7bc6 100644
--- a/cmd/karma/main.go
+++ b/cmd/karma/main.go
@@ -310,11 +310,6 @@ func mainSetup(errorHandling pflag.ErrorHandling) (*gin.Engine, error) {
 		log.Infof("Parsed %d ACL rule(s)", len(silenceACLs))
 	}
 
-	if *validateConfig {
-		log.Info("Configuration is valid")
-		return nil, nil
-	}
-
 	switch config.Config.Debug {
 	case true:
 		gin.SetMode(gin.DebugMode)
@@ -350,6 +345,11 @@ func mainSetup(errorHandling pflag.ErrorHandling) (*gin.Engine, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if *validateConfig {
+		log.Info("Configuration is valid")
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
 	return router, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_env.txt b/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_env.txt
index 9ee52d970..8fb2d2e39 100644
--- a/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_env.txt
+++ b/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_env.txt
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ env ANNOTATIONS_STRIP='strip1 strip2 strip3'
 env CUSTOM_CSS='/custom.css'
 env CUSTOM_JS='/custom.js'
 
-env DEBUG=true
+env DEBUG=false
 
 env FILTERS_DEFAULT='@receiver=by-cluster-service @state=active'
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ level=info msg="  - strip3"
 level=info msg="custom:"
 level=info msg="  css: /custom.css"
 level=info msg="  js: /custom.js"
-level=info msg="debug: true"
+level=info msg="debug: false"
 level=info msg="filters:"
 level=info msg="  default:"
 level=info msg="  - '@receiver=by-cluster-service'"
diff --git a/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_file.txt b/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_file.txt
index 2f12edd02..a3ca391e7 100644
--- a/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_file.txt
+++ b/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/log_full_config_file.txt
@@ -429,4 +429,6 @@ level=info msg="[ha1] Configured Alertmanager source at http://localhost:9093 (p
 level=info msg="[ha2] Configured Alertmanager source at http://localhost:9094 (proxied: false, readonly: true)"
 level=info msg="[local] Configured Alertmanager source at http://localhost:9095 (proxied: true, readonly: false)"
 level=info msg="[client-auth] Configured Alertmanager source at https://localhost:9096 (proxied: false, readonly: false)"
+level=info msg="[ha1] Setting up proxy endpoints"
+level=info msg="[local] Setting up proxy endpoints"
 level=info msg="Configuration is valid"
diff --git a/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/proxy.txt b/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/proxy.txt
index 1857fc00d..5f8cf894b 100644
--- a/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/proxy.txt
+++ b/cmd/karma/tests/testscript/proxy.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ karma.bin-should-work --log.format=text --log.config=true --config.file=karma.ya
 ! stdout .
 stderr 'msg="    proxy: true"'
 stderr 'msg="\[proxied\] Configured Alertmanager source at http://localhost \(proxied: true\, readonly: false\)"'
+stderr 'msg="\[proxied\] Setting up proxy endpoints"'
 ! stderr 'level=error'
 
 -- karma.yaml --