diff --git a/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs b/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
index 76730c9ee6..7926e839cf 100644
--- a/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
+++ b/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ pub struct PostHogConfig {
     /// Refresh interval for the feature flag spec.
     /// The storcon will push the feature flag spec to the pageserver. If the pageserver does not receive
     /// the spec for `refresh_interval`, it will fetch the spec from the PostHog API.
+    #[serde(default)]
     #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
     #[serde(with = "humantime_serde")]
     pub refresh_interval: Option<Duration>,
diff --git a/pageserver/src/config.rs b/pageserver/src/config.rs
index 9952496061..5b51a9617b 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/config.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/config.rs
@@ -762,4 +762,23 @@ mod tests {
         let result = PageServerConf::parse_and_validate(NodeId(0), config_toml, &workdir);
         assert_eq!(result.is_ok(), is_valid);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_config_posthog_config_is_valid() {
+        let input = r#"
+            control_plane_api = "http://localhost:6666"
+
+            [posthog_config]
+            server_api_key = "phs_AAA"
+            client_api_key = "phc_BBB"
+            project_id = "000"
+            private_api_url = "https://us.posthog.com"
+            public_api_url = "https://us.i.posthog.com"
+        "#;
+        let config_toml = toml_edit::de::from_str::<pageserver_api::config::ConfigToml>(input)
+            .expect("posthogconfig is valid");
+        let workdir = Utf8PathBuf::from("/nonexistent");
+        PageServerConf::parse_and_validate(NodeId(0), config_toml, &workdir)
+            .expect("parse_and_validate");
+    }
 }