diff --git a/lib/OpenQA/Setup.pm b/lib/OpenQA/Setup.pm
index 5aee53da7e9..aee6f102750 100644
--- a/lib/OpenQA/Setup.pm
+++ b/lib/OpenQA/Setup.pm
@@ -247,10 +247,7 @@ sub read_config ($app) {
         }
         for my $k (@known_keys) {
             my $v = $cfg && $cfg->val($section, $k);
-            $v
-              //= exists $mode_defaults{$app->mode}{$section}->{$k}
-              ? $mode_defaults{$app->mode}{$section}->{$k}
-              : $defaults{$section}->{$k};
+            $v //= $mode_defaults{$app->mode}{$section}->{$k} // $defaults{$section}->{$k};
             $config->{$section}->{$k} = trim $v if defined $v;
         }
     }