diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 3fd8fb05..d3f8f1af 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/joomcode/errorx"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"strings"
@@ -12,7 +11,9 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
 	"github.com/jessevdk/go-flags"
+	"github.com/joomcode/errorx"
 	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard"
+	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/utils"
 	"github.com/pkg/browser"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ func main() {
 		opts.BindHost = host
 	}
 
-	opts.Verbose = opts.Verbose || os.Getenv("DEBUG") != ""
+	opts.Verbose = opts.Verbose || utils.EnvAsBool("DEBUG", false)
 	setupLogging(opts.Verbose)
 
 	server := dashboard.Server{
diff --git a/pkg/dashboard/api.go b/pkg/dashboard/api.go
index dcf7595d..55a97269 100644
--- a/pkg/dashboard/api.go
+++ b/pkg/dashboard/api.go
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"html"
 	"net/http"
-	"os"
 	"path"
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
 	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/handlers"
 	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/objects"
+	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/utils"
 	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/frontend"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func NewRouter(abortWeb context.CancelFunc, data *objects.DataLayer, debug bool)
 	api.Use(errorHandler)
 	api.Use(corsMiddleware())
 
-	if os.Getenv("HD_CORS") != "" {
+	if utils.EnvAsBool("HD_CORS", false) {
 		api.Use(allowCORS)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/dashboard/api_test.go b/pkg/dashboard/api_test.go
index e43e3682..f79b7dcb 100644
--- a/pkg/dashboard/api_test.go
+++ b/pkg/dashboard/api_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
 	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/handlers"
 	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/objects"
+	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/utils"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"gotest.tools/v3/assert"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/action"
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ var inMemStorage *storage.Storage
 var repoFile string
 
 func TestMain(m *testing.M) { // fixture to set logging level via env variable
-	if os.Getenv("DEBUG") != "" {
+	if utils.EnvAsBool("DEBUG", false) {
 		log.SetLevel(log.DebugLevel)
 		log.Debugf("Set logging level")
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/dashboard/objects/data.go b/pkg/dashboard/objects/data.go
index 72abfdaf..8a62ee55 100644
--- a/pkg/dashboard/objects/data.go
+++ b/pkg/dashboard/objects/data.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package objects
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 
 	"github.com/joomcode/errorx"
+	"github.com/komodorio/helm-dashboard/pkg/dashboard/utils"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/action"
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ func (d *DataLayer) nsForCtx(ctx string) string {
 }
 
 func (d *DataLayer) PeriodicTasks(ctx context.Context) {
-	if os.Getenv("HD_NO_AUTOUPDATE") == "" {
+	if !utils.EnvAsBool("HD_NO_AUTOUPDATE", false) {
 		// auto-update repos
 		go d.loopUpdateRepos(ctx, 10*time.Minute) // TODO: parameterize interval?
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/dashboard/server.go b/pkg/dashboard/server.go
index e0206827..b87a19fe 100644
--- a/pkg/dashboard/server.go
+++ b/pkg/dashboard/server.go
@@ -38,9 +38,7 @@ func (s *Server) StartServer(ctx context.Context, cancel context.CancelFunc) (st
 	}
 
 	data.LocalCharts = s.LocalCharts
-
-	isDevModeWithAnalytics := os.Getenv("HD_DEV_ANALYTICS") == "true"
-	data.StatusInfo.Analytics = (!s.NoTracking && s.Version != "0.0.0") || isDevModeWithAnalytics
+	data.StatusInfo.Analytics = (!s.NoTracking && s.Version != "0.0.0") || utils.EnvAsBool("HD_DEV_ANALYTICS", false)
 
 	err = s.detectClusterMode(data)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -58,7 +56,7 @@ func (s *Server) StartServer(ctx context.Context, cancel context.CancelFunc) (st
 }
 
 func (s *Server) detectClusterMode(data *objects.DataLayer) error {
-	data.StatusInfo.ClusterMode = os.Getenv("HD_CLUSTER_MODE") != ""
+	data.StatusInfo.ClusterMode = utils.EnvAsBool("HD_CLUSTER_MODE", false)
 	if data.StatusInfo.ClusterMode {
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils.go b/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils.go
index a0232c36..eef3c4a7 100644
--- a/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"regexp"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
@@ -116,3 +117,13 @@ func GetQueryProps(c *gin.Context) (*QueryProps, error) {
 
 	return &qp, nil
 }
+
+func EnvAsBool(envKey string, envDef bool) bool {
+	validSettableValues := []string{"false", "true", "0", "1"}
+	envValue := os.Getenv(envKey)
+	if slices.Contains(validSettableValues, envValue) {
+		return envValue == "true" || envValue == "1"
+	} else {
+		return envDef
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils_test.go b/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils_test.go
index 5b01bcc3..6f1f2896 100644
--- a/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils_test.go
+++ b/pkg/dashboard/utils/utils_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package utils
 
 import (
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
@@ -106,3 +107,53 @@ func TestChartAndVersion(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestEnvAsBool(t *testing.T) {
+	// value: "true" | "1", default: false -> expect true
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "true")
+	want := true
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", false) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "1")
+	want = true
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", false) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+
+	// value: "false" | "0", default: true  -> expect false
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "false")
+	want = false
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", true) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "0")
+	want = false
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", true) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+
+	// value: "" | *, default: false -> expect false
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "")
+	want = false
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", false) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "10random")
+	want = false
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", false) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+
+	// value: "" | *, default: true -> expect true
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "")
+	want = true
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", true) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+	t.Setenv("TEST", "10random")
+	want = true
+	if EnvAsBool("TEST", true) != want {
+		t.Errorf("Env 'TEST' value '%v' should be parsed to %v", os.Getenv("TEST"), want)
+	}
+}