diff --git a/backend/oasst_backend/config.py b/backend/oasst_backend/config.py
index b0c6b7f5..2a8a3a7c 100644
--- a/backend/oasst_backend/config.py
+++ b/backend/oasst_backend/config.py
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     DEBUG_ALLOW_SELF_LABELING: bool = False  # allow users to label their own messages
     DEBUG_SKIP_EMBEDDING_COMPUTATION: bool = False
     DEBUG_SKIP_TOXICITY_CALCULATION: bool = False
+    DEBUG_DATABASE_ECHO: bool = False
 
     HUGGING_FACE_API_KEY: str = ""
 
diff --git a/backend/oasst_backend/database.py b/backend/oasst_backend/database.py
index 9632b9da..1d0e19b2 100644
--- a/backend/oasst_backend/database.py
+++ b/backend/oasst_backend/database.py
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@ from sqlmodel import create_engine
 if settings.DATABASE_URI is None:
     raise OasstError("DATABASE_URI is not set", error_code=OasstErrorCode.DATABASE_URI_NOT_SET)
 
-engine = create_engine(settings.DATABASE_URI, echo=True, isolation_level="REPEATABLE READ")
+engine = create_engine(settings.DATABASE_URI, echo=settings.DEBUG_DATABASE_ECHO, isolation_level="REPEATABLE READ")