diff --git a/birding/settings/__init__.py b/birding/settings/__init__.py
index 65c199d145bb127eb026d9fbd90d677e5c871ebc..c6faabc8cb6f14b68b86cd5ae65aa50806538600 100644
--- a/birding/settings/__init__.py
+++ b/birding/settings/__init__.py
@@ -135,4 +135,7 @@ import django_heroku
 django_heroku.settings(locals())
 # REMOVE SSL FOR TESTING
 if DEBUG:
-	DATABASES['default']['OPTIONS']['sslmode'] = 'prefer'
+        try:
+	        DATABASES['default']['OPTIONS']['sslmode'] = 'prefer'
+        except Error:
+                pass