diff --git a/rust/agents/relayer/src/processor.rs b/rust/agents/relayer/src/processor.rs
index d18397be0..122d96a5b 100644
--- a/rust/agents/relayer/src/processor.rs
+++ b/rust/agents/relayer/src/processor.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use derive_new::new;
 use eyre::Result;
 use hyperlane_core::HyperlaneDomain;
 use tokio::task::JoinHandle;
-use tracing::{info_span, instrument, instrument::Instrumented, Instrument};
+use tracing::instrument;
 
 #[async_trait]
 pub trait ProcessorExt: Send + Debug {
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@ pub struct Processor {
 }
 
 impl Processor {
-    pub fn spawn(self) -> Instrumented<JoinHandle<Result<()>>> {
-        let span = info_span!("MessageProcessor");
-        tokio::spawn(async move { self.main_loop().await }).instrument(span)
+    pub fn spawn(self) -> JoinHandle<Result<()>> {
+        tokio::spawn(async move { self.main_loop().await })
     }
 
     #[instrument(ret, err, skip(self), level = "info", fields(domain=%self.ticker.domain()))]
diff --git a/rust/config/test_sealevel_config.json b/rust/config/test_sealevel_config.json
index af814bd46..5eebd592a 100644
--- a/rust/config/test_sealevel_config.json
+++ b/rust/config/test_sealevel_config.json
@@ -1,48 +1,50 @@
 {
-    "chains": {
-        "sealeveltest1": {
-            "name": "sealeveltest1",
-            "chainId": 13375,
-            "domainId": 13375,
-            "mailbox": "692KZJaoe2KRcD6uhCQDLLXnLNA5ZLnfvdqjE4aX9iu1",
-            "interchainGasPaymaster": "DrFtxirPPsfdY4HQiNZj2A9o4Ux7JaL3gELANgAoihhp",
-            "validatorAnnounce": "DH43ae1LwemXAboWwSh8zc9pG8j72gKUEXNi57w8fEnn",
-            "protocol": "sealevel",
-            "blocks": {
-                "reorgPeriod": 0,
-                "confirmations": 0
-            },
-            "rpcUrls": [
-                {
-                    "http": "http://localhost:8899"
-                }
-            ],
-            "index": {
-                "from": 1,
-                "mode": "sequence"
-            }
-        },
-        "sealeveltest2": {
-            "name": "sealeveltest2",
-            "chainId": 13376,
-            "domainId": 13376,
-            "mailbox": "9tCUWNjpqcf3NUSrtp7vquYVCwbEByvLjZUrhG5dgvhj",
-            "interchainGasPaymaster": "G5rGigZBL8NmxCaukK2CAKr9Jq4SUfAhsjzeri7GUraK",
-            "validatorAnnounce": "3Uo5j2Bti9aZtrDqJmAyuwiFaJFPFoNL5yxTpVCNcUhb",
-            "protocol": "sealevel",
-            "blocks": {
-                "reorgPeriod": 0,
-                "confirmations": 0
-            },
-            "rpcUrls": [
-                {
-                    "http": "http://localhost:8899"
-                }
-            ],
-            "index": {
-                "from": 1,
-                "mode": "sequence"
-            }
+  "chains": {
+    "sealeveltest1": {
+      "name": "sealeveltest1",
+      "chainId": 13375,
+      "domainId": 13375,
+      "mailbox": "692KZJaoe2KRcD6uhCQDLLXnLNA5ZLnfvdqjE4aX9iu1",
+      "merkleTreeHook": "692KZJaoe2KRcD6uhCQDLLXnLNA5ZLnfvdqjE4aX9iu1",
+      "interchainGasPaymaster": "DrFtxirPPsfdY4HQiNZj2A9o4Ux7JaL3gELANgAoihhp",
+      "validatorAnnounce": "DH43ae1LwemXAboWwSh8zc9pG8j72gKUEXNi57w8fEnn",
+      "protocol": "sealevel",
+      "blocks": {
+        "reorgPeriod": 0,
+        "confirmations": 0
+      },
+      "rpcUrls": [
+        {
+          "http": "http://localhost:8899"
         }
+      ],
+      "index": {
+        "from": 1,
+        "mode": "sequence"
+      }
+    },
+    "sealeveltest2": {
+      "name": "sealeveltest2",
+      "chainId": 13376,
+      "domainId": 13376,
+      "mailbox": "9tCUWNjpqcf3NUSrtp7vquYVCwbEByvLjZUrhG5dgvhj",
+      "merkleTreeHook": "9tCUWNjpqcf3NUSrtp7vquYVCwbEByvLjZUrhG5dgvhj",
+      "interchainGasPaymaster": "G5rGigZBL8NmxCaukK2CAKr9Jq4SUfAhsjzeri7GUraK",
+      "validatorAnnounce": "3Uo5j2Bti9aZtrDqJmAyuwiFaJFPFoNL5yxTpVCNcUhb",
+      "protocol": "sealevel",
+      "blocks": {
+        "reorgPeriod": 0,
+        "confirmations": 0
+      },
+      "rpcUrls": [
+        {
+          "http": "http://localhost:8899"
+        }
+      ],
+      "index": {
+        "from": 1,
+        "mode": "sequence"
+      }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  }
+}
diff --git a/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/chains.rs b/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/chains.rs
index 46379718c..a5bb21de3 100644
--- a/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/chains.rs
+++ b/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/chains.rs
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ pub struct CoreContractAddresses {
     /// Address of the ValidatorAnnounce contract
     pub validator_announce: H256,
     /// Address of the MerkleTreeHook contract
-    pub merkle_tree_hook: Option<H256>,
+    pub merkle_tree_hook: H256,
 }
 
 /// Indexing settings
@@ -173,13 +173,7 @@ impl ChainConf {
         metrics: &CoreMetrics,
     ) -> Result<Box<dyn MerkleTreeHook>> {
         let ctx = "Building merkle tree hook";
-        // TODO: if the merkle tree hook is set for sealevel, it's still a mailbox program
-        // that the connection is made to using the pda seeds, which will not be usable.
-        let address = self
-            .addresses
-            .merkle_tree_hook
-            .unwrap_or(self.addresses.mailbox);
-        let locator = self.locator(address);
+        let locator = self.locator(self.addresses.merkle_tree_hook);
 
         match &self.connection {
             ChainConnectionConf::Ethereum(conf) => {
@@ -368,11 +362,7 @@ impl ChainConf {
         metrics: &CoreMetrics,
     ) -> Result<Box<dyn SequenceIndexer<MerkleTreeInsertion>>> {
         let ctx = "Building merkle tree hook indexer";
-        let address = self
-            .addresses
-            .merkle_tree_hook
-            .unwrap_or(self.addresses.mailbox);
-        let locator = self.locator(address);
+        let locator = self.locator(self.addresses.merkle_tree_hook);
 
         match &self.connection {
             ChainConnectionConf::Ethereum(conf) => {
@@ -704,13 +694,11 @@ impl ChainConf {
             self.addresses.interchain_gas_paymaster,
             EthereumInterchainGasPaymasterAbi::fn_map_owned(),
         );
-        if let Some(address) = self.addresses.merkle_tree_hook {
-            register_contract(
-                "merkle_tree_hook",
-                address,
-                EthereumInterchainGasPaymasterAbi::fn_map_owned(),
-            );
-        }
+        register_contract(
+            "merkle_tree_hook",
+            self.addresses.merkle_tree_hook,
+            EthereumInterchainGasPaymasterAbi::fn_map_owned(),
+        );
 
         cfg
     }
diff --git a/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/parser/mod.rs b/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/parser/mod.rs
index aad2e8735..76c88fe1b 100644
--- a/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/parser/mod.rs
+++ b/rust/hyperlane-base/src/settings/parser/mod.rs
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ fn parse_chain(
         .end();
     let merkle_tree_hook = chain
         .chain(&mut err)
-        .get_opt_key("merkleTreeHook")
+        .get_key("merkleTreeHook")
         .parse_address_hash()
         .end();
 
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ fn parse_chain(
         default_rpc_consensus_type,
     );
 
-    cfg_unwrap_all!(&chain.cwp, err: [connection, mailbox, interchain_gas_paymaster, validator_announce]);
+    cfg_unwrap_all!(&chain.cwp, err: [connection, mailbox, interchain_gas_paymaster, validator_announce, merkle_tree_hook]);
     err.into_result(ChainConf {
         domain,
         signer,