diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8ee7f7f..b1f50c6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 **Requires at least:** 5.3 \
 **Tested up to:** 6.4 \
 **Requires PHP:** 7.2 \
-**Stable tag:** 1.6.7
+**Stable tag:** 1.6.8
 
 Fix your email delivery problems by sending your WordPress emails through Amazon SES's powerful email sending infrastructure.
 
@@ -191,6 +191,10 @@ Please double check the credentials match up with the credentials you received w
 
 ## Changelog
 
+### 1.6.8 - 2024-02-09
+
+* Bug fix: Using the WPOSES_SETTINGS define no longer causes a fatal error
+
 ### 1.6.7 - 2024-02-08
 
 * Security: Unserializing an object related to plugin settings now passes `'allowed_classes' => false` to avoid instantiating the complete object and potentially running malicious code
diff --git a/languages/wp-ses-en.pot b/languages/wp-ses-en.pot
index 1844c0b..31f7e02 100644
--- a/languages/wp-ses-en.pot
+++ b/languages/wp-ses-en.pot
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
 # This file is distributed under the same license as the WP Offload SES Lite plugin.
 msgid ""
 msgstr ""
-"Project-Id-Version: WP Offload SES Lite 1.6.7\n"
+"Project-Id-Version: WP Offload SES Lite 1.6.8\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-ses\n"
 "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
 "MIME-Version: 1.0\n"
 "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2024-02-08T17:50:04+00:00\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2024-02-09T11:17:59+00:00\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
 "X-Generator: WP-CLI 2.9.0\n"
 "X-Domain: wp-offload-ses\n"
diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index fdd6a03..1372393 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Tags: amazon ses,smtp,email delivery,gmail smtp,newsletter
 Requires at least: 5.3
 Tested up to: 6.4
 Requires PHP: 7.2
-Stable tag: 1.6.7
+Stable tag: 1.6.8
 
 Fix your email delivery problems by sending your WordPress emails through Amazon SES's powerful email sending infrastructure.
 
@@ -178,6 +178,9 @@ Please double check the credentials match up with the credentials you received w
 
 == Changelog ==
 
+= 1.6.8 - 2024-02-09 =
+* Bug fix: Using the WPOSES_SETTINGS define no longer causes a fatal error
+
 = 1.6.7 - 2024-02-08 =
 * Security: Unserializing an object related to plugin settings now passes `'allowed_classes' => false` to avoid instantiating the complete object and potentially running malicious code
 * Security: Processing of the email queue now restricts the type of data allowed to ensure stored queue items meet requirements
diff --git a/wp-ses.php b/wp-ses.php
index de33c78..c2cf561 100644
--- a/wp-ses.php
+++ b/wp-ses.php
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 Plugin Name: WP Offload SES Lite
 Description: Automatically send WordPress mail through Amazon SES (Simple Email Service).
 Author: Delicious Brains
-Version: 1.6.7
+Version: 1.6.8
 Author URI: https://deliciousbrains.com/
 Network: True
 Text Domain: wp-offload-ses
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 	exit;
 }
 
-$GLOBALS['wposes_meta']['wp-ses']['version'] = '1.6.7';
+$GLOBALS['wposes_meta']['wp-ses']['version'] = '1.6.8';
 
 if ( ! class_exists( 'DeliciousBrains\WP_Offload_SES\Compatibility_Check' ) ) {
 	require_once wposes_lite_get_plugin_dir_path() . '/classes/Compatibility-Check.php';
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ function wposes_lite_get_plugin_dir_path() {
  */
 function wposes_lite_sending_enabled() {
 	if ( defined( 'WPOSES_SETTINGS' ) ) {
+		require_once dirname( __FILE__ ) . '/classes/Utils.php';
 		$defined_settings = Utils::maybe_unserialize( constant( 'WPOSES_SETTINGS' ) );
 
 		if ( isset( $defined_settings['send-via-ses'] ) ) {