diff --git a/ckan/config/environment.py b/ckan/config/environment.py
index 6cf7dedd30e..0b4fe91ef7a 100644
--- a/ckan/config/environment.py
+++ b/ckan/config/environment.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 import ckan.model as model
 import ckan.plugins as p
 import ckan.lib.helpers as h
-import ckan.lib.search as search
 import ckan.lib.app_globals as app_globals
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -161,6 +160,9 @@ def find_controller(self, controller):
 
     # Init SOLR settings and check if the schema is compatible
     #from ckan.lib.search import SolrSettings, check_solr_schema_version
+
+    # lib.search is imported here as we need the config enabled and parsed
+    import ckan.lib.search as search
     search.SolrSettings.init(config.get('solr_url'),
                              config.get('solr_user'),
                              config.get('solr_password'))
diff --git a/ckan/lib/search/__init__.py b/ckan/lib/search/__init__.py
index f003efd9350..ecf2ed568e5 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/search/__init__.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/search/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import logging
 from pylons import config, c
+from paste.deploy.converters import asbool
 
 from ckan import model
 from ckan.plugins import SingletonPlugin, implements, IDomainObjectModification
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ def text_traceback():
         ).strip()
     return res
 
-SIMPLE_SEARCH = config.get('ckan.simple_search', False)
+SIMPLE_SEARCH = asbool(config.get('ckan.simple_search', False))
 
 SUPPORTED_SCHEMA_VERSIONS = ['1.4']