diff --git a/materializationengine/celery_worker.py b/materializationengine/celery_worker.py
index c5ea9590..e8ce9bf4 100644
--- a/materializationengine/celery_worker.py
+++ b/materializationengine/celery_worker.py
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ def create_celery(app=None):
     for logger_name in celery_loggers:
         logging.getLogger(logger_name).setLevel(log_level)
     
+    # Debug: Check if BEAT_SCHEDULES is in app.config
+    beat_schedules = app.config.get("BEAT_SCHEDULES", [])
+    celery_logger.debug(f"BEAT_SCHEDULES from app.config: {beat_schedules}")
+    celery_logger.debug(f"BEAT_SCHEDULES type: {type(beat_schedules)}, length: {len(beat_schedules) if isinstance(beat_schedules, (list, dict)) else 'N/A'}")
+    
     celery.conf.update(
         {
             "task_routes": ("materializationengine.task_router.TaskRouter"),
@@ -70,11 +75,20 @@ def create_celery(app=None):
                 "socket_timeout": 20,
                 "socket_connect_timeout": 20,
             },  # timeout (s) for tasks to be sent back to broker queue
-            "beat_schedules": app.config["BEAT_SCHEDULES"],
+            "beat_schedules": beat_schedules,
         }
     )
 
     celery.conf.update(app.config)
+    # Ensure beat_schedules is set correctly after update (in case app.config overwrote it)
+    # Use BEAT_SCHEDULES from app.config if beat_schedules is empty or missing
+    if not celery.conf.get("beat_schedules") and app.config.get("BEAT_SCHEDULES"):
+        celery.conf.beat_schedules = app.config["BEAT_SCHEDULES"]
+        celery_logger.debug(f"Restored beat_schedules from BEAT_SCHEDULES: {len(app.config['BEAT_SCHEDULES'])} schedules")
+    
+    # Debug: Verify beat_schedules is in celery.conf after update
+    celery_logger.debug(f"beat_schedules in celery.conf after update: {celery.conf.get('beat_schedules', 'NOT FOUND')}")
+    celery_logger.debug(f"BEAT_SCHEDULES in celery.conf after update: {celery.conf.get('BEAT_SCHEDULES', 'NOT FOUND')}")
     TaskBase = celery.Task
 
     class ContextTask(TaskBase):
@@ -87,6 +101,7 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
     celery.Task = ContextTask
     if os.environ.get("SLACK_WEBHOOK"):
         celery.Task.on_failure = post_to_slack_on_task_failure
+    
     return celery
 
 
@@ -129,8 +144,18 @@ def setup_periodic_tasks(sender, **kwargs):
         name="Clean up back end results",
     )
 
-    beat_schedules = celery.conf.get("beat_schedules", [])
-    celery_logger.info(beat_schedules)
+    # Try to get beat_schedules from celery.conf, fallback to BEAT_SCHEDULES if not found
+    beat_schedules = celery.conf.get("beat_schedules")
+    if not beat_schedules:
+        # Fallback: try to get from BEAT_SCHEDULES (uppercase) in celery.conf
+        beat_schedules = celery.conf.get("BEAT_SCHEDULES", [])
+        if beat_schedules:
+            celery_logger.debug(f"Found BEAT_SCHEDULES (uppercase), converting to beat_schedules")
+            celery.conf.beat_schedules = beat_schedules
+    
+    celery_logger.debug(f"beat_schedules from celery.conf: {beat_schedules}")
+    celery_logger.debug(f"beat_schedules type: {type(beat_schedules)}, length: {len(beat_schedules) if isinstance(beat_schedules, (list, dict)) else 'N/A'}")
+    
     if not beat_schedules:
         celery_logger.info("No periodic tasks configured.")
         return
diff --git a/materializationengine/config.py b/materializationengine/config.py
index 6a939dab..4706a51a 100644
--- a/materializationengine/config.py
+++ b/materializationengine/config.py
@@ -189,14 +189,22 @@ def configure_app(app: Flask) -> Flask:
     if "MATERIALIZATION_ENGINE_SETTINGS" in os.environ.keys():
         app.config.from_envvar("MATERIALIZATION_ENGINE_SETTINGS")
     # instance-folders configuration
+    # Store BEAT_SCHEDULES before loading config file to see if it gets overwritten
+    beat_schedules_before = app.config.get("BEAT_SCHEDULES", "NOT_SET")
     app.config.from_pyfile("config.cfg", silent=True)
-
+    beat_schedules_after = app.config.get("BEAT_SCHEDULES", "NOT_SET")
+    
     handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
     handler.setLevel(app.config["LOGGING_LEVEL"])
     app.logger.removeHandler(default_handler)
     app.logger.addHandler(handler)
     app.logger.setLevel(app.config["LOGGING_LEVEL"])
     app.logger.propagate = False
+    
+    # Log BEAT_SCHEDULES loading status (debug level)
+    app.logger.debug(f"BEAT_SCHEDULES before config.cfg: {beat_schedules_before}")
+    app.logger.debug(f"BEAT_SCHEDULES after config.cfg: {beat_schedules_after}")
+    app.logger.debug(f"BEAT_SCHEDULES type: {type(beat_schedules_after)}, length: {len(beat_schedules_after) if isinstance(beat_schedules_after, (list, dict)) else 'N/A'}")
     app.logger.debug(app.config)
     app.app_context().push()
     return app