diff --git a/02-sahana.sh b/02-sahana.sh
index 4ebf9f4..130d5c4 100755
--- a/02-sahana.sh
+++ b/02-sahana.sh
@@ -44,10 +44,13 @@ chown -R sahana:sahana /srv/sahana
 cd /srv/sahana
 sudo -u sahana python web2py.py -S eden -M -R applications/eden/static/scripts/tools/noop.py
 
-# Set "production values" (increases performance)
-sed -i 's/settings.base.migrate = True/settings.base.migrate = False/' /srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
-sed -i 's/#settings.base.prepopulate = 0/settings.base.prepopulate = 0/' /srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
-sudo -u sahana python web2py.py -S eden -M -R applications/eden/static/scripts/tools/compile.py
+# Set "production values" (increases performance). Only if the DEBUG environment variable doesn't exist
+if [ -z "${DEBUG}" ]; then
+    sed -i 's/settings.base.migrate = True/settings.base.migrate = False/' /srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
+    sed -i 's/settings.base.debug = True/settings.base.debug = False/' /srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
+    sed -i 's/#settings.base.prepopulate = 0/settings.base.prepopulate = 0/' /srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
+    sudo -u sahana python web2py.py -S eden -M -R applications/eden/static/scripts/tools/compile.py
+fi
 
 # Create uwsgi and nginx app definition
 cp ${SOURCE_DIR}/sahana/etc/uwsgi/apps-available/sahana.ini /etc/uwsgi/apps-available/sahana.ini
diff --git a/sahana/srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py b/sahana/srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
index 09b55ed..e8cb36d 100644
--- a/sahana/srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
+++ b/sahana/srv/sahana/applications/eden/models/000_config.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ settings.base.migrate = True
 # JS Debug messages are also available in the Console
 # can also load an individual page in debug mode by appending URL with
 # ?debug=1
-settings.base.debug = False
+settings.base.debug = True
 
 # Uncomment this to prevent automated test runs from remote
 # settings.base.allow_testing = False