diff --git a/categories/models.py b/categories/models.py
index f1c23fa..f024960 100644
--- a/categories/models.py
+++ b/categories/models.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ from .base import CategoryBase
 from .settings import (
     RELATION_MODELS,
     RELATIONS,
-    THUMBNAIL_STORAGE,
     THUMBNAIL_STORAGE_ALIAS,
     THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH,
 )
@@ -27,6 +26,8 @@ try:  # Django 4.2+
 except ImportError:
     from django.core.files.storage import get_storage_class
 
+    from .settings import THUMBNAIL_STORAGE
+
     STORAGE = get_storage_class(THUMBNAIL_STORAGE)()
 
 
diff --git a/categories/settings.py b/categories/settings.py
index fd76ca4..d0afb82 100644
--- a/categories/settings.py
+++ b/categories/settings.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
     "M2M_REGISTRY": {},
     "FK_REGISTRY": {},
     "THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH": "uploads/categories/thumbnails",
-    "THUMBNAIL_STORAGE": settings.DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE,
     "THUMBNAIL_STORAGE_ALIAS": "default",
     "JAVASCRIPT_URL": getattr(settings, "STATIC_URL", settings.MEDIA_URL) + "js/",
     "SLUG_TRANSLITERATOR": "",
@@ -19,6 +18,9 @@ DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
     "RELATION_MODELS": [],
 }
 
+if hasattr(settings, "DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE"):
+    DEFAULT_SETTINGS["THUMBNAIL_STORAGE"] = settings.DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE
+
 DEFAULT_SETTINGS.update(getattr(settings, "CATEGORIES_SETTINGS", {}))
 
 if DEFAULT_SETTINGS["SLUG_TRANSLITERATOR"]: