diff --git a/backend/apps/images/main.py b/backend/apps/images/main.py
index af8cbf7c5..bf3125985 100644
--- a/backend/apps/images/main.py
+++ b/backend/apps/images/main.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import base64
 import json
 import logging
 
-from config import SRC_LOG_LEVELS, CACHE_DIR, AUTOMATIC1111_BASE_URL, COMFYUI_BASE_URL
+from config import SRC_LOG_LEVELS, CACHE_DIR, IMAGE_GENERATION_ENABLED, AUTOMATIC1111_BASE_URL, COMFYUI_BASE_URL
 
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ app.add_middleware(
 )
 
 app.state.ENGINE = ""
-app.state.ENABLED = False
+app.state.ENABLED = IMAGE_GENERATION_ENABLED
 
 app.state.OPENAI_API_KEY = ""
 app.state.MODEL = ""
diff --git a/backend/config.py b/backend/config.py
index 6e3cf92a9..24ccaa479 100644
--- a/backend/config.py
+++ b/backend/config.py
@@ -452,5 +452,8 @@ WHISPER_MODEL_DIR = os.getenv("WHISPER_MODEL_DIR", f"{CACHE_DIR}/whisper/models"
 # Images
 ####################################
 
+IMAGE_GENERATION_ENABLED = (
+    os.environ.get("IMAGE_GENERATION_ENABLED", "").lower() == "true"
+)
 AUTOMATIC1111_BASE_URL = os.getenv("AUTOMATIC1111_BASE_URL", "")
 COMFYUI_BASE_URL = os.getenv("COMFYUI_BASE_URL", "")