diff --git a/src/c3nav/settings.py b/src/c3nav/settings.py
index 824d3e6c..572cd6cf 100644
--- a/src/c3nav/settings.py
+++ b/src/c3nav/settings.py
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@ debug_fallback = "runserver" in sys.argv
 DEBUG = config.getboolean('django', 'debug', fallback=debug_fallback, env='C3NAV_DEBUG')
 
 ENABLE_MESH = config.getboolean('c3nav', 'enable_mesh', fallback=True, env='ENABLE_MESH')
-SERVE_API = config.getboolean('c3nav', 'serve_api', fallback=True, env='SERVE_API')
 SERVE_ANYTHING = config.getboolean('c3nav', 'serve_anything', fallback=True, env='SERVE_ANYTHING')
+SERVE_API = config.getboolean('c3nav', 'serve_api', fallback=SERVE_ANYTHING, env='SERVE_API')
 
 RENDER_SCALE = config.getfloat('c3nav', 'render_scale', fallback=20.0)
 IMAGE_RENDERER = config.get('c3nav', 'image_renderer', fallback='svg')