diff --git a/setup.go b/setup.go
index f1e9a1f..3197e55 100644
--- a/setup.go
+++ b/setup.go
@@ -73,9 +73,6 @@ func setup(c *caddy.Controller) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if config.forward == "" {
-		return c.Err("synthetic: forward zone must be specified")
-	}
 	if config.prefix == "" {
 		config.prefix = "ip"
 	}