diff --git a/backend/holy_backend/settings.py b/backend/holy_backend/settings.py
index df772de..76e2342 100644
--- a/backend/holy_backend/settings.py
+++ b/backend/holy_backend/settings.py
@@ -167,7 +167,8 @@ import os
 # For development, it will default to printing emails to the console.
 EMAIL_HOST = os.environ.get('EMAIL_HOST')
 EMAIL_PORT = int(os.environ.get('EMAIL_PORT', 587))
-EMAIL_USE_TLS = os.environ.get('EMAIL_USE_TLS', 'true').lower() == 'true'
+# Default to False unless explicitly set to 'true' in the .env file
+EMAIL_USE_TLS = os.environ.get('EMAIL_USE_TLS', 'false').lower() == 'true'
 EMAIL_USE_SSL = os.environ.get('EMAIL_USE_SSL', 'false').lower() == 'true'
 EMAIL_HOST_USER = os.environ.get('EMAIL_HOST_USER')
 EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = os.environ.get('EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD')