diff --git a/settings/misc.settings.php b/settings/misc.settings.php
index 7e637d5ff..12ae2cb1e 100644
--- a/settings/misc.settings.php
+++ b/settings/misc.settings.php
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@
  *   $settings['hash_salt'] = file_get_contents('/home/example/salt.txt');
  * @endcode
  */
-$settings['hash_salt'] = file_get_contents(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/../salt.txt');
+if (empty($settings['hash_salt']) {
+  $settings['hash_salt'] = file_get_contents(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/../salt.txt');
+}
 
 /**
  * Deployment identifier.