require user_register to be set

We have a setup where there are two classes of visitors: anonymous (where no REMOTE_USER envvar is set) and authenticated (where REMOTE_USER is set to their username). We don't, however, want random users creating accounts without permission. Unfortunately, this module disables registration when "only site administrators can create new accounts" is set. In a way, our REMOTE_USER envvar is the site administrator, so that doesn't make sense for us.

Is there any reason that it would be checking this variable, beyond perhaps having a way to disable this module's registration feature?