diff --git a/piwik.php b/piwik.php
index a123987a26e..4563dddffe4 100644
--- a/piwik.php
+++ b/piwik.php
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
 
 \Piwik\FrontController::createConfigObject();
 
-$GLOBALS['PIWIK_TRACKER_DEBUG'] = \Piwik\Config::getInstance()->Tracker['debug'];
+$GLOBALS['PIWIK_TRACKER_DEBUG'] = (bool) \Piwik\Config::getInstance()->Tracker['debug'];
 if ($GLOBALS['PIWIK_TRACKER_DEBUG'] === true) {
     require_once PIWIK_INCLUDE_PATH . '/core/Loader.php';
 
diff --git a/tests/PHPUnit/Core/ReleaseCheckListTest.php b/tests/PHPUnit/Core/ReleaseCheckListTest.php
index 16449bb4cd5..139d528819c 100644
--- a/tests/PHPUnit/Core/ReleaseCheckListTest.php
+++ b/tests/PHPUnit/Core/ReleaseCheckListTest.php
@@ -159,10 +159,10 @@ public function testPiwikTrackerDebugIsOff()
 
         $_GET = $oldGet;
 
+        $this->assertEquals(0, \Piwik\Config::getInstance()->Tracker['debug']);
         $this->assertTrue($GLOBALS['PIWIK_TRACKER_DEBUG'] === false);
     }
 
-
     /**
      * This tests that all PHP files start with <?php
      * This would help detect errors such as a php file starting with spaces