diff --git a/app/clients/statsd/statsd_client.py b/app/clients/statsd/statsd_client.py
index 6b127da93..19e89557e 100644
--- a/app/clients/statsd/statsd_client.py
+++ b/app/clients/statsd/statsd_client.py
@@ -3,15 +3,17 @@ from statsd import StatsClient
 
 class StatsdClient(StatsClient):
     def init_app(self, app, *args, **kwargs):
-        StatsClient.__init__(
-            self,
-            app.config.get('STATSD_HOST'),
-            app.config.get('STATSD_PORT'),
-            prefix=app.config.get('STATSD_PREFIX')
-        )
         self.active = app.config.get('STATSD_ENABLED')
         self.namespace = app.config.get('NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT') + ".notifications.api."
 
+        if self.active:
+            StatsClient.__init__(
+                self,
+                app.config.get('STATSD_HOST'),
+                app.config.get('STATSD_PORT'),
+                prefix=app.config.get('STATSD_PREFIX')
+            )
+
     def format_stat_name(self, stat):
         return self.namespace + stat