diff --git a/internal/service/deploy/service.go b/internal/service/deploy/service.go
index 6a6eafe..d70ff76 100644
--- a/internal/service/deploy/service.go
+++ b/internal/service/deploy/service.go
@@ -77,16 +77,7 @@ func (s *Service) Deploy(ctx context.Context, options Options) (Result, error) {
 		wranglerCfg.CompatibilityDate = options.CompatDate
 	}
 	if len(options.Var) > 0 {
-		if wranglerCfg.Vars == nil {
-			wranglerCfg.Vars = map[string]string{}
-		}
-		for _, item := range options.Var {
-			key, value, ok := splitPair(item)
-			if ok {
-				wranglerCfg.Vars[key] = value
-				project.Bindings.Vars[key] = value
-			}
-		}
+		applyVars(&project, &wranglerCfg, options.Var)
 	}
 	for _, route := range options.Route {
 		wranglerCfg.Routes = config.UpsertRoute(wranglerCfg.Routes, config.WranglerRoute{Pattern: route})
@@ -227,6 +218,26 @@ func splitPair(value string) (string, string, bool) {
 	return "", "", false
 }
 
+func applyVars(project *config.Project, wranglerCfg *config.WranglerConfig, vars []string) {
+	if len(vars) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	if wranglerCfg.Vars == nil {
+		wranglerCfg.Vars = map[string]string{}
+	}
+	if project.Bindings.Vars == nil {
+		project.Bindings.Vars = map[string]string{}
+	}
+	for _, item := range vars {
+		key, value, ok := splitPair(item)
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		wranglerCfg.Vars[key] = value
+		project.Bindings.Vars[key] = value
+	}
+}
+
 func canFallbackToPlainDeploy(options Options, err error) bool {
 	if options.UploadOnly || options.Message == "" {
 		return false
diff --git a/internal/service/deploy/service_test.go b/internal/service/deploy/service_test.go
index 7df8803..e88cda7 100644
--- a/internal/service/deploy/service_test.go
+++ b/internal/service/deploy/service_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 package deploy
 
-import "testing"
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/paolo/flare-edge-cli/internal/domain/config"
+)
 
 func TestSplitPair(t *testing.T) {
 	key, value, ok := splitPair("FOO=bar")
@@ -8,3 +12,20 @@ func TestSplitPair(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected split result: %q %q %v", key, value, ok)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestApplyVarsInitializesNilMaps(t *testing.T) {
+	project := config.Project{}
+	wranglerCfg := config.WranglerConfig{}
+
+	applyVars(&project, &wranglerCfg, []string{"ORCHESTRATOR_URL=https://example.com", "BROKEN"})
+
+	if got := wranglerCfg.Vars["ORCHESTRATOR_URL"]; got != "https://example.com" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected wrangler var value: %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := project.Bindings.Vars["ORCHESTRATOR_URL"]; got != "https://example.com" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected project var value: %q", got)
+	}
+	if _, exists := wranglerCfg.Vars["BROKEN"]; exists {
+		t.Fatalf("invalid var entry should be ignored")
+	}
+}