diff --git a/.github/workflows/checks.yml b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
index b7004a7ce..fee623f8c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ env:
   ADMIN_BASE_URL: http://localhost:6012
   API_HOST_NAME: http://localhost:6011
   REDIS_URL: redis://localhost:6380
-  REDIS_ENABLED: 1
+  REDIS_ENABLED: False
   SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI: postgresql://postgres:chummy@db:5432/notification_api
   SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_TEST_URI: postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/test_notification_api
   AWS_REGION: us-west-2
diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 2ad76752b..d06431ad4 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class Config(object):
 
     # URL of redis instance
     REDIS_URL = os.environ.get('REDIS_URL')
-    REDIS_ENABLED = True
+    REDIS_ENABLED = os.environ.get('REDIS_ENABLED')
     EXPIRE_CACHE_TEN_MINUTES = 600
     EXPIRE_CACHE_EIGHT_DAYS = 8 * 24 * 60 * 60
 
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ class Development(Config):
     DEBUG = True
     SQLALCHEMY_ECHO = False
 
-    REDIS_ENABLED = True
+    REDIS_ENABLED = os.environ.get('REDIS_ENABLED')
 
     CSV_UPLOAD_BUCKET_NAME = 'local-notifications-csv-upload'
     CONTACT_LIST_BUCKET_NAME = 'local-contact-list'
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ class Live(Config):
     CRONITOR_ENABLED = True
     
     # DEBUG = True
-    REDIS_ENABLED = True
+    REDIS_ENABLED = os.environ.get('REDIS_ENABLED')
 
     NOTIFY_LOG_PATH = os.environ.get('NOTIFY_LOG_PATH', 'application.log')
     REDIS_URL = os.environ.get('REDIS_URL')