diff --git a/keyserver/src/socket/redis.js b/keyserver/src/socket/redis.js
index 28855980f..fe7bcd7c8 100644
--- a/keyserver/src/socket/redis.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/socket/redis.js
@@ -1,103 +1,112 @@
 // @flow
 
 import type { RedisClient } from 'redis';
 import redis from 'redis';
 import uuidv4 from 'uuid/v4';
 
 import {
   redisMessageTypes,
   type RedisMessage,
   type UpdateTarget,
   type SessionIdentifier,
 } from 'lib/types/redis-types';
 
 import { getScriptContext } from '../scripts/script-context';
 
 function channelNameForUpdateTarget(updateTarget: UpdateTarget): string {
   if (updateTarget.sessionID) {
     return `user.${updateTarget.userID}.${updateTarget.sessionID}`;
   } else {
     return `user.${updateTarget.userID}`;
   }
 }
 
+const redisConfig = (() => {
+  if (!process.env.REDIS_URL) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return {
+    url: process.env.REDIS_URL,
+  };
+})();
+
 class RedisPublisher {
   pub: RedisClient;
 
   constructor() {
-    this.pub = redis.createClient();
+    this.pub = redis.createClient(redisConfig);
   }
 
   sendMessage(target: UpdateTarget, message: RedisMessage) {
     const channelName = channelNameForUpdateTarget(target);
     const stringifiedMessage = JSON.stringify(message);
     const scriptContext = getScriptContext();
     if (scriptContext && scriptContext.dryRun) {
       console.log(`Redis publish to ${channelName}: ${stringifiedMessage}`);
       return;
     }
     this.pub.publish(channelName, stringifiedMessage);
   }
 
   end() {
     this.pub.unref();
   }
 }
 const publisher: RedisPublisher = new RedisPublisher();
 
 type OnMessage = (message: RedisMessage) => void | Promise<void>;
 class RedisSubscriber {
   sub: RedisClient;
   instanceID: string;
   onMessageCallback: OnMessage;
 
   constructor(sessionIdentifier: SessionIdentifier, onMessage: OnMessage) {
-    this.sub = redis.createClient();
+    this.sub = redis.createClient(redisConfig);
     this.instanceID = uuidv4();
     this.onMessageCallback = onMessage;
 
     const { userID } = sessionIdentifier;
     this.sub.subscribe(channelNameForUpdateTarget({ userID }));
     this.sub.subscribe(channelNameForUpdateTarget(sessionIdentifier));
 
     publisher.sendMessage(sessionIdentifier, {
       type: redisMessageTypes.START_SUBSCRIPTION,
       instanceID: this.instanceID,
     });
 
     this.sub.on('message', this.onMessage);
   }
 
   static messageFromString(messageString: string): ?RedisMessage {
     try {
       return JSON.parse(messageString);
     } catch (e) {
       console.log(e);
       return null;
     }
   }
 
   onMessage: (channel: string, messageString: string) => void = (
     channel,
     messageString,
   ) => {
     const message = RedisSubscriber.messageFromString(messageString);
     if (!message) {
       return;
     }
     if (message.type === redisMessageTypes.START_SUBSCRIPTION) {
       if (message.instanceID === this.instanceID) {
         return;
       } else {
         this.quit();
       }
     }
     this.onMessageCallback(message);
   };
 
   quit() {
     this.sub.quit();
   }
 }
 
 export { channelNameForUpdateTarget, publisher, RedisSubscriber };