diff --git a/zerver/decorator.py b/zerver/decorator.py
index 7c2ac457fa..e4703719dd 100644
--- a/zerver/decorator.py
+++ b/zerver/decorator.py
@@ -466,7 +466,8 @@ def client_is_exempt_from_rate_limiting(request):
     # Don't rate limit requests from Django that come from our own servers,
     # and don't rate-limit dev instances
     return ((request.client and request.client.name.lower() == 'internal')
-           and (is_local_addr(request.META['REMOTE_ADDR']) or settings.DEBUG))
+           and (is_local_addr(request.META['REMOTE_ADDR']) or
+                settings.DEBUG_RATE_LIMITING))
 
 def internal_notify_view(view_func):
     # type: (ViewFuncT) -> ViewFuncT
diff --git a/zerver/tests/test_decorators.py b/zerver/tests/test_decorators.py
index c0b10bd43a..09268c1e66 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/test_decorators.py
+++ b/zerver/tests/test_decorators.py
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ class RateLimitTestCase(TestCase):
         with self.settings(RATE_LIMITING=True):
             with mock.patch('zerver.decorator.rate_limit_user') as rate_limit_mock:
                 with self.errors_disallowed():
-                    with self.settings(DEBUG=True):
+                    with self.settings(DEBUG_RATE_LIMITING=True):
                         self.assertEqual(f(req), 'some value')
 
         self.assertFalse(rate_limit_mock.called)
diff --git a/zproject/settings.py b/zproject/settings.py
index 5922a87971..b3799d18af 100644
--- a/zproject/settings.py
+++ b/zproject/settings.py
@@ -404,6 +404,7 @@ CACHES = {
 RATE_LIMITING_RULES = [
     (60, 100),     # 100 requests max every minute
     ]
+DEBUG_RATE_LIMITING = DEBUG
 
 ########################################################################
 # SECURITY SETTINGS