diff --git a/docs/reference/environment-variables.md b/docs/reference/environment-variables.md
index 5663fff03..893259663 100644
--- a/docs/reference/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/reference/environment-variables.md
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ Enabling overwrites for credentials allows you to set default values for credent
 | Variable | Type | Description |
 | :------- | :--- | :---------- |
 | `N8N_USER_MANAGEMENT_DISABLED` | Boolean | Defaults to user management enabled (false). Set to `true` to disable the [user management](user-management.md) feature. Note that n8n ignores this environment variable if you have already set up an owner account. |
-| `N8N_EMAIL_MODE` | string | SMTP | Required |
+| `N8N_EMAIL_MODE` | string | smtp | Required |
 | `N8N_SMTP_HOST` | string | _your_SMTP_server_name_ | Required |
 | `N8N_SMTP_PORT` | number | _your_SMTP_server_port_ Default is `465`. | Optional |
 | `N8N_SMTP_USER` | string | _your_SMTP_username_ | Required |
diff --git a/docs/reference/user-management.md b/docs/reference/user-management.md
index a58866b47..b275b39ba 100644
--- a/docs/reference/user-management.md
+++ b/docs/reference/user-management.md
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ To set up SMTP with n8n, configure the SMTP environment variables for your n8n i
 
 | Variable | Type | Description | Required? |
 | -------- | ---- | ----------- | --------- |
-| `N8N_EMAIL_MODE` | string | SMTP | Required |
+| `N8N_EMAIL_MODE` | string | smtp | Required |
 | `N8N_SMTP_HOST` | string | _your_SMTP_server_name_ | Required |
 | `N8N_SMTP_PORT` | number | _your_SMTP_server_port_ Default is `465`.| Optional |
 | `N8N_SMTP_USER` | string | _your_SMTP_username_ | Required |