diff --git a/pinaxcon/settings.py b/pinaxcon/settings.py
index 19d857b5..2d645844 100644
--- a/pinaxcon/settings.py
+++ b/pinaxcon/settings.py
@@ -13,7 +13,19 @@ BASE_DIR = PACKAGE_ROOT
 
 ### USER SETTINGS
 
-DEBUG = True
+DEBUG = os.environ.get('SYMPOSION_APP_DEBUG', '0')
+if isinstance(DEBUG, str):
+    try:
+        i = int(DEBUG)
+        if not i in [0, 1]:
+            raise ValueError("not 0 or 1")
+        DEBUG = bool(i)
+    except ValueError:
+        sys.exit('DEBUG env var must be set to string value of a 0 or 1')
+else:
+    sys.exit('DEBUG env var is in unexpected format.  Should be a string'
+             'containing either a 0 or a 1 - Got type %s' % type(DEBUG))
+
 DATABASES = {
     "default": {
         "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.sqlite3",