diff --git a/polisplexity/settings.py b/polisplexity/settings.py
index c4cda2b..4aaa41e 100644
--- a/polisplexity/settings.py
+++ b/polisplexity/settings.py
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ STATICFILES_DIRS = [
 
 MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
 MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "media"
+SERVE_MEDIA = os.getenv("SERVE_MEDIA", "").lower() in ("1", "true", "yes")
 
 
 # Default primary key field type
diff --git a/polisplexity/urls.py b/polisplexity/urls.py
index 29a642e..8706c42 100644
--- a/polisplexity/urls.py
+++ b/polisplexity/urls.py
@@ -65,4 +65,6 @@ urlpatterns = [
 
 if settings.DEBUG:
     urlpatterns += static(settings.STATIC_URL, document_root=settings.STATIC_ROOT)
+
+if settings.DEBUG or settings.SERVE_MEDIA:
     urlpatterns += static(settings.MEDIA_URL, document_root=settings.MEDIA_ROOT)