diff --git a/PortBlog.API/Program.cs b/PortBlog.API/Program.cs
index b31ba14..5c67595 100644
--- a/PortBlog.API/Program.cs
+++ b/PortBlog.API/Program.cs
@@ -33,13 +33,25 @@ Log.Logger = loggerConfiguration
     .WriteTo.File("logs/portblog.txt", rollingInterval: RollingInterval.Day)
     .CreateLogger();
 
-var urls = builder.Configuration.GetSection("Urls");
+var urlsSection = builder.Configuration.GetSection("Urls");
+var urlsValue = urlsSection.Value;
 
-if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(urls.Value))
+if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(urlsValue))
 {
-    var allowedUrlsToUse = urls.Value.Split(',');
+    var allowedUrlsToUse = urlsValue
+        .Split(',', StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries | StringSplitOptions.TrimEntries)
+        .Where(u => Uri.IsWellFormedUriString(u, UriKind.Absolute))
+        .ToArray();
 
-    builder.WebHost.UseUrls(allowedUrlsToUse);
+    if (allowedUrlsToUse.Length > 0)
+    {
+        builder.WebHost.UseUrls(allowedUrlsToUse);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        // optionally log or throw depending on desired behavior
+        Log.Warning("Configured 'Urls' section was present but no valid URLs were found.");
+    }
 }
 
 var allowedCorsOrigins = builder.Configuration.GetSection("AllowedCorsOrigins");
diff --git a/PortBlog.API/Services/MailService.cs b/PortBlog.API/Services/MailService.cs
index 3cf85db..63aca96 100644
--- a/PortBlog.API/Services/MailService.cs
+++ b/PortBlog.API/Services/MailService.cs
@@ -67,16 +67,14 @@ namespace PortBlog.API.Services
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
-                logger.LogCritical(
-                    "Exception while sending mail from {FromEmail} ({Name}): {Exception}",
-                    messageSendDto.FromEmail,
-                    messageSendDto.Name,
-                    ex.Message
-                );
+                // Log full exception and persist failed message. Do not rethrow to avoid causing a 500 from OTP generation
+                logger.LogCritical(ex, "Exception while sending mail from {FromEmail} ({Name}).", messageSendDto.FromEmail, messageSendDto.Name);
                 messageSendDto.SentStatus = (int)MailConstants.MailStatus.Failed;
                 mailRepository.AddMessage(messageEntity);
                 await mailRepository.SaveChangesAsync();
-                throw new Exception();
+
+                // swallow the exception so OTP generation continues; caller can inspect delivery status via message logs
+                return;
             }
         }
     }