diff --git a/packages/core/installMachine/index.ts b/packages/core/installMachine/index.ts
index 468a352..cfcbb1b 100644
--- a/packages/core/installMachine/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/installMachine/index.ts
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ const createInstallMachine = (initialContext: InstallMachineContext) => {
         deployVercelProjectActor: createStepMachine(
           fromPromise<void, InstallMachineContext, AnyEventObject>(async ({ input }) => {
             try {
-              await deployVercelProject();
+              await deployVercelProject(input.stateData.options.usePayload);
               input.stateData.stepsCompleted.deployVercelProject = true;
               saveStateToRcFile(input.stateData, input.projectDir);
             } catch (error) {
diff --git a/packages/core/installMachine/installSteps/vercel/deploy.ts b/packages/core/installMachine/installSteps/vercel/deploy.ts
index 60ae1db..34d70c7 100644
--- a/packages/core/installMachine/installSteps/vercel/deploy.ts
+++ b/packages/core/installMachine/installSteps/vercel/deploy.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import { logWithColoredPrefix } from '../../../utils/logWithColoredPrefix';
 
-export const deployVercelProject = async () => {
+export const deployVercelProject = async (usePayload: boolean) => {
   execSync('npx vercel git connect', {
     stdio: ['inherit', 'pipe', 'inherit'],
     encoding: 'utf-8',
@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@ export const deployVercelProject = async () => {
     encoding: 'utf8',
   });
 
-  logWithColoredPrefix('vercel', 'Setting up environment variables...');
-  execSync("grep PAYLOAD_SECRET apps/web/.env | cut -d '=' -f2 | vercel env add PAYLOAD_SECRET production", {
-    stdio: 'inherit',
-    encoding: 'utf8',
-  });
+  if (usePayload) {
+    logWithColoredPrefix('vercel', 'Setting up environment variables...');
+    execSync("grep PAYLOAD_SECRET apps/web/.env | cut -d '=' -f2 | vercel env add PAYLOAD_SECRET production", {
+      stdio: 'inherit',
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+    });
+  }
 
   if (productionUrl) {
     logWithColoredPrefix('vercel', `You can access your production deployment at: \x1b[36m${productionUrl}\x1b[0m`);