diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index 990493121..b648c3d6f 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -6427,13 +6427,6 @@ void redisAsciiArt(void) {
         serverLogRaw(LL_NOTICE|LL_RAW,buf);
     }
 
-    if (cserver.license_key == nullptr && !g_pserver->sentinel_mode)
-    {
-#ifndef NO_LICENSE_CHECK
-        serverLog(LL_WARNING, "!!!! KeyDB Enterprise is being run in trial mode  !!!!");
-        serverLog(LL_WARNING, "!!!! Execution will terminate in %d minutes !!!!", cserver.trial_timeout);
-#endif
-    }
     zfree(buf);
 }
 
@@ -7321,6 +7314,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         serverLog(LL_WARNING, "Configuration loaded");
     }
 
+#ifndef NO_LICENSE_CHECK
+    if (!g_pserver->sentinel_mode && (cserver.license_key == nullptr || !FValidKey(cserver.license_key, strlen(cserver.license_key)))){
+        serverLog(LL_WARNING, "Error: %s license key provided, exiting immediately.", cserver.license_key == nullptr ? "No" : "Invalid");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+#endif
+
     validateConfiguration();
 
     const char *err;
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index 2cf5646d9..6a318fcd6 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -2115,7 +2115,7 @@ struct redisServerConst {
     int enable_motd;            /* Flag to retrieve the Message of today using CURL request*/
 
     sds license_key = nullptr;
-    int trial_timeout = 120;
+    int trial_timeout = 0;
     int delete_on_evict = false;   // Only valid when a storage provider is set
     int thread_min_client_threshold = 50;
     int multimaster_no_forward;