diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 75134ad..dd2d15e 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ environment variables, like this::
         -e SYNCSERVER_SQLURI=sqlite:////tmp/syncserver.db \
         -e SYNCSERVER_BATCH_UPLOAD_ENABLED=true \
         -e SYNCSERVER_FORCE_WSGI_ENVIRON=false \
+        -e SYNCSERVER_DEBUG_ENABLED=true \
         -e PORT=5000 \
         mozilla/syncserver:latest
 
diff --git a/syncserver/__init__.py b/syncserver/__init__.py
index 7f17750..adebe54 100644
--- a/syncserver/__init__.py
+++ b/syncserver/__init__.py
@@ -143,7 +143,10 @@ def includeme(config):
         # Default to basic logging config.
         root_logger = logging.getLogger("")
         if not root_logger.handlers:
-            logging.basicConfig(level=logging.WARN)
+            if settings.get("syncserver.debug_enabled"):
+                logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
+            else:
+                logging.basicConfig(level=logging.WARN)
     if "fxa.metrics_uid_secret_key" not in settings:
         # Default to a randomly-generated secret.
         # This setting isn't useful in a self-hosted setup
@@ -191,6 +194,9 @@ def import_settings_from_environment_variables(settings, environ=None):
         ("SYNCSERVER_BATCH_UPLOAD_ENABLED",
          "storage.batch_upload_enabled",
          str_to_bool),
+        ("SYNCSERVER_DEBUG_ENABLED",
+         "syncserver.debug_enabled",
+         str_to_bool),
     )
     if "SYNCSERVER_SECRET_FILE" in environ:
         settings["syncserver.secret"] = \