diff --git a/src/frame/middleware/index.ts b/src/frame/middleware/index.ts
index 39cec4ea3069..518bc14bd9a2 100644
--- a/src/frame/middleware/index.ts
+++ b/src/frame/middleware/index.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ export default function (app: Express) {
   }
 
   // *** Observability ***
-  if (process.env.MODA_PROD_SERVICE_ENV) {
+  if (process.env.MODA_PROD_SERVICE_ENV === 'true') {
     app.use(datadog)
   }
 
diff --git a/src/observability/lib/statsd.js b/src/observability/lib/statsd.js
index 096201220b5c..1b2aaeb7551f 100644
--- a/src/observability/lib/statsd.js
+++ b/src/observability/lib/statsd.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ const {
   DD_AGENT_HOST,
 } = process.env
 
-const mock = NODE_ENV === 'test' || !MODA_PROD_SERVICE_ENV
+const mock = NODE_ENV === 'test' || MODA_PROD_SERVICE_ENV !== 'true'
 
 // MODA_APP_NAME gets set when the deploy target is Moda
 const modaApp = MODA_APP_NAME ? `moda_app_name:${MODA_APP_NAME}` : false
diff --git a/src/observability/middleware/trigger-error.ts b/src/observability/middleware/trigger-error.ts
index 1521cb3d3226..bcd1fee9157c 100644
--- a/src/observability/middleware/trigger-error.ts
+++ b/src/observability/middleware/trigger-error.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ export default async function triggerError(
   // pattern used on async middleware! This is an intentional omission!
 
   // prevent this from being used in production
-  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' && process.env.MODA_PROD_SERVICE_ENV) return next()
+  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' && process.env.MODA_PROD_SERVICE_ENV === 'true')
+    return next()
 
   throw new Error('Intentional error')
 }