diff --git a/SAS/TMSS/backend/src/tmss/settings.py b/SAS/TMSS/backend/src/tmss/settings.py
index 26e34cb4b8771950ea51aca0f9416ae6eecf38c8..528ae22e586a4dc02e89d87ba8f232e64584db28 100644
--- a/SAS/TMSS/backend/src/tmss/settings.py
+++ b/SAS/TMSS/backend/src/tmss/settings.py
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)))
 SECRET_KEY = os.getenv('SECRET_KEY', '-&$!kx$_0)u1x#zk9w^^81hfssaover2(8wdq_8n8n3u(8=-9n')       # todo: set something new here for production !!!
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
-DEBUG = bool(int(os.getenv('DEBUG', True)))
+from distutils.util import strtobool
+DEBUG = strtobool(os.getenv('DEBUG', 'True'))
 
 ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.getenv('ALLOWED_HOSTS').split(',') if os.getenv('ALLOWED_HOSTS') else []