diff --git a/run_reports.sh b/run_reports.sh
index e5b9158723cb..a3e49b0b91f3 100755
--- a/run_reports.sh
+++ b/run_reports.sh
@@ -36,5 +36,12 @@ if [ -z "$GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG" ]; then
 fi
 
 find_server ${GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG:-none} reports
+
+if [ "$run_server" = "gunicorn" -a -z "$GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG" ]; then
+    GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG="config/reports.yml.sample"
+    export GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG
+    echo 'WARNING: Using default reports config at config/reports.yml.sample, copy to config/reports.yml or set $GALAXY_REPORTS_CONFIG if this is not intentional'
+fi
+
 echo "Executing: $run_server $server_args"
 eval $run_server $server_args
diff --git a/scripts/common_startup_functions.sh b/scripts/common_startup_functions.sh
index a55b047742b8..b806bf86796f 100644
--- a/scripts/common_startup_functions.sh
+++ b/scripts/common_startup_functions.sh
@@ -189,7 +189,8 @@ find_server() {
         server_args="$server_args $uwsgi_args"
     elif [ "$APP_WEBSERVER" = "gunicorn" ]; then
         export GUNICORN_CMD_ARGS="${GUNICORN_CMD_ARGS:-\"--bind=localhost:8080\"}"
-        server_args="$APP_WEBSERVER 'galaxy.webapps.${server_app}.fast_factory:factory()' --pythonpath lib -k ${gunicorn_worker:-$default_gunicorn_worker} $gunicorn_args"
+        run_server="gunicorn"
+        server_args="'galaxy.webapps.${server_app}.fast_factory:factory()' --pythonpath lib -k ${gunicorn_worker:-$default_gunicorn_worker} $gunicorn_args"
         if [ "$add_pid_arg" -eq 1 ]; then
             server_args="$server_args --pid \"$PID_FILE\""
         fi