diff --git a/nanobot/channels/telegram.py b/nanobot/channels/telegram.py
index c290535..12b5440 100644
--- a/nanobot/channels/telegram.py
+++ b/nanobot/channels/telegram.py
@@ -140,10 +140,14 @@ class TelegramChannel(BaseChannel):
         self._running = True
 
         # Build the application with larger connection pool to avoid pool-timeout on long runs
-        req = HTTPXRequest(connection_pool_size=16, pool_timeout=5.0, connect_timeout=30.0, read_timeout=30.0)
+        req = HTTPXRequest(
+            connection_pool_size=16,
+            pool_timeout=5.0,
+            connect_timeout=30.0,
+            read_timeout=30.0,
+            proxy=self.config.proxy if self.config.proxy else None,
+        )
         builder = Application.builder().token(self.config.token).request(req).get_updates_request(req)
-        if self.config.proxy:
-            builder = builder.proxy(self.config.proxy).get_updates_proxy(self.config.proxy)
         self._app = builder.build()
         self._app.add_error_handler(self._on_error)