diff --git a/embed/__tests__/rateLimiter.test.ts b/embed/__tests__/rateLimiter.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3d8f543d40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/embed/__tests__/rateLimiter.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+// ---- Testing libraries
+import { jest, it, describe, expect, beforeEach } from "@jest/globals";
+
+import { parseRateLimit } from "../src/rateLimiter.js";
+
+jest.mock("../src/redis", () => {
+  return {
+    redis: {
+      call: async (...args: string[]): Promise<any> => Promise.resolve({}),
+    },
+  };
+});
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  // CLear the spy stats
+  jest.clearAllMocks();
+});
+
+describe("parseRateLimit", function () {
+  it("parse non-empty valid string", async () => {
+    expect(parseRateLimit("1000/1m")).toEqual(1000);
+    expect(parseRateLimit("1000/1s")).toEqual(60000);
+    expect(parseRateLimit("60/1h")).toEqual(1);
+    expect(parseRateLimit("1440/1d")).toEqual(1);
+    expect(parseRateLimit("")).toEqual(Infinity);
+    expect(parseRateLimit(null)).toEqual(Infinity);
+  });
+
+  it("throws error when unsupported time unit is used", async () => {
+    expect(() => parseRateLimit("1000/1x")).toThrow(
+      new Error("Invalid rate limit spec format. Expected format: '<requests>/<time><unit> where unit is one of 'smhd'")
+    );
+    expect(() => parseRateLimit("abcd")).toThrow(
+      new Error("Invalid rate limit spec format. Expected format: '<requests>/<time><unit> where unit is one of 'smhd'")
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/embed/src/rateLimiter.ts b/embed/src/rateLimiter.ts
index f19298199e..0bf59ea648 100644
--- a/embed/src/rateLimiter.ts
+++ b/embed/src/rateLimiter.ts
@@ -4,13 +4,19 @@ import { RedisReply, RedisStore } from "rate-limit-redis";
 
 import axios from "axios";
 
-function parseRateLimit(rateLimitSpec: string): number {
+export function parseRateLimit(rateLimitSpec: string | null): number {
+  if (rateLimitSpec === "" || rateLimitSpec === null) {
+    return Infinity;
+  }
+
   // Regular expression to match the format "<requests>/<time>"
   const regex = /^(\d+)\/(\d+)([smhd])$/; // Supports seconds (s), minutes (m), hours (h), and days (d)
   const match = rateLimitSpec.match(regex);
 
   if (!match) {
-    throw new Error("Invalid rate limit spec format. Expected format: '<requests>/<time><unit>'");
+    throw new Error(
+      "Invalid rate limit spec format. Expected format: '<requests>/<time><unit> where unit is one of 'smhd'"
+    );
   }
 
   const totalRequests = parseInt(match[1], 10); // e.g., 125
@@ -67,6 +73,7 @@ export async function apiKeyRateLimit(req: Request, res: Response): Promise<numb
       return rateLimit;
     }
   } catch (err) {
+    console.error("error checking rate limit:", err);
     res.status(500).send({ message: "Unauthorized! Unexpected error validating API key" });
     throw "ERROR";
   }