diff --git a/config/environment.rb b/config/environment.rb
index fd396c95..bc3ac725 100644
--- a/config/environment.rb
+++ b/config/environment.rb
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ require_dependency "environments/#{RAILS_ENV}"
 unless defined? RAILS_DEFAULT_LOGGER
   RAILS_DEFAULT_LOGGER = Logger.new(STDERR)
   ActionController::Base.logger ||= RAILS_DEFAULT_LOGGER
-  if defined? INSTIKI_DEBUG_LOG and INSTIKI_DEBUG_LOG
+  if $instiki_debug_logging
     RAILS_DEFAULT_LOGGER.level = Logger::DEBUG
     ActionController::Base.logger.level = Logger::DEBUG
   else
diff --git a/config/environments/development.rb b/config/environments/development.rb
index 09020254..61ce9fec 100644
--- a/config/environments/development.rb
+++ b/config/environments/development.rb
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ Dependencies.mechanism = :require
 ActionController::Base.consider_all_requests_local = true
 ActionController::Base.perform_caching = false
 BREAKPOINT_SERVER_PORT = 42531
-INSTIKI_DEBUG_LOG = true unless defined? INSTIKI_DEBUG_LOG
+$instiki_debug_logging = true
diff --git a/config/environments/test.rb b/config/environments/test.rb
index c41af37f..ece6e9cf 100644
--- a/config/environments/test.rb
+++ b/config/environments/test.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ unless defined? TEST_LOGGER
   $stderr.puts "To see the Rails log:\n    less #{log_name}"
   
   TEST_LOGGER = ActionController::Base.logger = Logger.new(log_name)
-  INSTIKI_DEBUG_LOG = true unless defined? INSTIKI_DEBUG_LOG
+  $instiki_debug_logging = true
   
   WikiService.storage_path = RAILS_ROOT + '/storage/test/'
 end
diff --git a/script/server b/script/server
index 2d1112a8..0da05085 100755
--- a/script/server
+++ b/script/server
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ end
 FileUtils.mkdir_p(storage_path)
 
 ENV['RAILS_ENV'] = OPTIONS[:environment]
-INSTIKI_DEBUG_LOG = OPTIONS[:verbose]
+$instiki_debug_logging = OPTIONS[:verbose]
 require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../config/environment')
 WikiService.storage_path = storage_path