diff --git a/apps/demo-react/src/App.tsx b/apps/demo-react/src/App.tsx
index 9c38faa4..6b2d2fee 100644
--- a/apps/demo-react/src/App.tsx
+++ b/apps/demo-react/src/App.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ function App() {
       binderOptions: {
         repo: 'executablebooks/thebe-binder-base',
       },
+      serverSettings: {
+        token: 'test-secret',
+      },
     }),
     [path],
   );
diff --git a/apps/demo-react/src/NotebookPage.tsx b/apps/demo-react/src/NotebookPage.tsx
index 3894a0ec..bc60ec02 100644
--- a/apps/demo-react/src/NotebookPage.tsx
+++ b/apps/demo-react/src/NotebookPage.tsx
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ import { NotebookStatusTray } from './NotebookStatusTray';
 import { NotebookErrorTray } from './NotebookErrorTray';
 
 export function NotebookPage({ children }: React.PropsWithChildren) {
-  const { connecting, ready, config } = useThebeServer();
+  const { connecting, ready, config, error } = useThebeServer();
 
-  if (!connecting && !ready) return null;
+  if (!connecting && !ready && !error) return null;
   return (
     <ThebeRenderMimeRegistryProvider>
       <ThebeSessionProvider start path={config?.kernels.path}>