diff --git a/core/lib/config/src/configs/proof_data_handler.rs b/core/lib/config/src/configs/proof_data_handler.rs
index 9ce89421b34b..bbe9e881d5d6 100644
--- a/core/lib/config/src/configs/proof_data_handler.rs
+++ b/core/lib/config/src/configs/proof_data_handler.rs
@@ -1,23 +1,32 @@
-use std::{fmt, fmt::Display, marker::PhantomData, str::FromStr, time::Duration};
+use std::time::Duration;
 
-use serde::{de, Deserialize};
+use serde::Deserialize;
 use zksync_basic_types::L1BatchNumber;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone, PartialEq)]
 pub struct TeeConfig {
     /// If true, the TEE support is enabled.
-    #[serde(deserialize_with = "deserialize_stringified_any")]
     pub tee_support: bool,
     /// All batches before this one are considered to be processed.
-    #[serde(deserialize_with = "deserialize_stringified_any", default)]
     pub first_tee_processed_batch: L1BatchNumber,
 }
 
+impl Default for TeeConfig {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        TeeConfig {
+            tee_support: false,
+            first_tee_processed_batch: L1BatchNumber(0),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone, PartialEq)]
 pub struct ProofDataHandlerConfig {
     pub http_port: u16,
     pub proof_generation_timeout_in_secs: u16,
-    #[serde(flatten)]
+    #[serde(skip)]
+    // ^ Filled in separately in `Self::from_env()`. We cannot use `serde(flatten)` because it
+    // doesn't work with `envy`: https://github.com/softprops/envy/issues/26
     pub tee_config: TeeConfig,
 }
 
@@ -26,35 +35,3 @@ impl ProofDataHandlerConfig {
         Duration::from_secs(self.proof_generation_timeout_in_secs as u64)
     }
 }
-
-// Boilerplate to workaround https://github.com/softprops/envy/issues/26
-
-pub fn deserialize_stringified_any<'de, D, T>(deserializer: D) -> Result<T, D::Error>
-where
-    D: de::Deserializer<'de>,
-    T: FromStr,
-    T::Err: Display,
-{
-    deserializer.deserialize_any(StringifiedAnyVisitor(PhantomData))
-}
-
-pub struct StringifiedAnyVisitor<T>(PhantomData<T>);
-
-impl<'de, T> de::Visitor<'de> for StringifiedAnyVisitor<T>
-where
-    T: FromStr,
-    T::Err: Display,
-{
-    type Value = T;
-
-    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-        formatter.write_str("a string containing json data")
-    }
-
-    fn visit_str<E>(self, v: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
-    where
-        E: de::Error,
-    {
-        Self::Value::from_str(v).map_err(E::custom)
-    }
-}
diff --git a/core/lib/protobuf_config/src/proto/config/prover.proto b/core/lib/protobuf_config/src/proto/config/prover.proto
index ae8a636f52af..5ce173d91dd9 100644
--- a/core/lib/protobuf_config/src/proto/config/prover.proto
+++ b/core/lib/protobuf_config/src/proto/config/prover.proto
@@ -108,5 +108,5 @@ message ProofDataHandler {
   optional uint32 http_port = 1; // required; u16
   optional uint32 proof_generation_timeout_in_secs = 2; // required; s
   optional bool tee_support = 3; // required
-  optional uint64 first_tee_processed_batch = 4; // required
+  optional uint64 first_tee_processed_batch = 4; // optional
 }