diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ec3d0956..dd12009a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ rerun.txt
 pickle-email-*.html
 
 # Secrets
-config/initializers/secret_token.rb
+config/secrets.yml
 
 ## Environment normalisation:
 /.bundle
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index 0d7f97e0..191e73d3 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -15,9 +15,6 @@ class Application < Rails::Application
 		# Fallback to assets pipeline if a precompiled asset is missed.
 		config.assets.compile = true
 
-		# Heroku: prevent app from starting up during precompilation...
-		config.assets.initialize_on_precompile = false
-
 		# Settings in config/environments/* take precedence over those specified here.
 		# Application configuration should go into files in config/initializers
 		# -- all .rb files in that directory are automatically loaded.
diff --git a/config/initializers/secret_token.rb b/config/initializers/secret_token.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..38b95d48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/secret_token.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Rails.application.config.secret_key_base = if Rails.env.development? or Rails.env.test?
+  ('x' * 30) # meets minimum requirement of 30 chars long
+else
+  ENV['SECRET_KEY_BASE']
+end
diff --git a/config/secrets.yml b/config/secrets.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index ce4be6ea..00000000
--- a/config/secrets.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-# Rake Secrets:
-# DEV ENV key is now constant for easier development.
-# TEST ENV key is a unique key stored for Travis CI testing.
-# Production Key is a unique key stored on Heroku configs.
-
-development:
-  secret_key_base: e08f02eccd8de8db74210ca17fc952cb4900be29f87551884dc5d6b4db47e8777ccb047d6725e8aa0ab9d787ed2cf35c168589c54f4569c45d4db6d0bc5efc4f
-
-test:
-  secret_key_base: <%= ENV["SECRET_KEY_BASE"] %>
-  
-production:
-  secret_key_base: <%= ENV["SECRET_KEY_BASE"] %>