diff --git a/config/config-base.json b/config/config-base.json
index 7311021..8583629 100644
--- a/config/config-base.json
+++ b/config/config-base.json
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@
                     "requires_restart": true,
                     "type": "text",
                     "value": "",
-                    "description": "URL base for when running jfa-go with a reverse proxy in a subfolder."
+                    "description": "URL base for when running jfa-go with a reverse proxy in a subfolder. include preceding /, e.g \"/accounts\"."
                 }
             }
         },
diff --git a/email.go b/email.go
index 92b48b1..32a5881 100644
--- a/email.go
+++ b/email.go
@@ -181,8 +181,7 @@ func (emailer *Emailer) NewMailgun(url, key string) {
 func (emailer *Emailer) NewSMTP(server string, port int, username, password string, sslTLS bool, certPath string) (err error) {
 	// x509.SystemCertPool is unavailable on windows
 	if PLATFORM == "windows" {
-		emailer.sender = &SMTP{
-			auth:   smtp.PlainAuth("", username, password, server),
+		sender := &SMTP{
 			server: server,
 			port:   port,
 			sslTLS: sslTLS,
@@ -191,6 +190,10 @@ func (emailer *Emailer) NewSMTP(server string, port int, username, password stri
 				ServerName:         server,
 			},
 		}
+		if username != "" || password != "" {
+			sender.auth = smtp.PlainAuth("", username, password, server)
+		}
+		emailer.sender = sender
 		return
 	}
 	rootCAs, err := x509.SystemCertPool()
@@ -204,8 +207,7 @@ func (emailer *Emailer) NewSMTP(server string, port int, username, password stri
 			err = errors.New("Failed to append cert to pool")
 		}
 	}
-	emailer.sender = &SMTP{
-		auth:   smtp.PlainAuth("", username, password, server),
+	sender := &SMTP{
 		server: server,
 		port:   port,
 		sslTLS: sslTLS,
@@ -215,6 +217,10 @@ func (emailer *Emailer) NewSMTP(server string, port int, username, password stri
 			RootCAs:            rootCAs,
 		},
 	}
+	if username != "" || password != "" {
+		sender.auth = smtp.PlainAuth("", username, password, server)
+	}
+	emailer.sender = sender
 	return
 }