diff --git a/cli/start.go b/cli/start.go
index 0bd1510008..ad2f79c928 100644
--- a/cli/start.go
+++ b/cli/start.go
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ func MakeStartCommand() *cobra.Command {
 			}
 
 			isDevMode := cfg.GetBool("development")
+			http.IsDevMode = isDevMode
 			if isDevMode {
 				cmd.Printf(devModeBanner)
 				if cfg.GetBool("keyring.disabled") {
diff --git a/http/errors.go b/http/errors.go
index f1e03d5882..0b6cc78d3d 100644
--- a/http/errors.go
+++ b/http/errors.go
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	errFailedToLoadKeys       string = "failed to load given keys"
-	errMethodIsNotImplemented string = "the method is not implemented"
-	errFailedToGetContext     string = "failed to get context"
+	errFailedToLoadKeys             string = "failed to load given keys"
+	errMethodIsNotImplemented       string = "the method is not implemented"
+	errFailedToGetContext           string = "failed to get context"
+	errPurgeRequestNonDeveloperMode string = "cannot purge database when development mode is disabled"
 )
 
 // Errors returnable from this package.
diff --git a/http/handler.go b/http/handler.go
index 336dfc54d3..7d24245ea4 100644
--- a/http/handler.go
+++ b/http/handler.go
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
 )
 
+// Global variable for the development mode flag
+// This is checked by the http/handler_extras.go/Purge function to determine which response to send
+var IsDevMode bool = false
+
 // Version is the identifier for the current API version.
 var Version string = "v0"
 
diff --git a/http/handler_extras.go b/http/handler_extras.go
index 1f14cc40a7..67cba8d0ef 100644
--- a/http/handler_extras.go
+++ b/http/handler_extras.go
@@ -23,7 +23,14 @@ type extrasHandler struct{}
 
 func (s *extrasHandler) Purge(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	db := mustGetContextClientDB(req)
-	rw.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK) // write the response before we restart to purge
+
+	// Send either 200 or 400 response based on whether the server is in dev mode
+	if IsDevMode {
+		rw.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	} else {
+		responseJSON(rw, http.StatusBadRequest, errPurgeRequestNonDeveloperMode)
+	}
+
 	db.Events().Publish(event.NewMessage(event.PurgeName, nil))
 }
 
diff --git a/http/handler_extras_test.go b/http/handler_extras_test.go
index d7d1398e90..870cad02d3 100644
--- a/http/handler_extras_test.go
+++ b/http/handler_extras_test.go
@@ -20,8 +20,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
-func TestPurge(t *testing.T) {
+func TestPurgeDevModeTrue(t *testing.T) {
 	cdb := setupDatabase(t)
+
+	IsDevMode = true
+
 	url := "http://localhost:9181/api/v0/purge"
 
 	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, url, nil)
@@ -40,3 +43,27 @@ func TestPurge(t *testing.T) {
 	// test will timeout if purge never received
 	<-purgeSub.Message()
 }
+
+func TestPurgeDevModeFalse(t *testing.T) {
+	cdb := setupDatabase(t)
+
+	IsDevMode = false
+
+	url := "http://localhost:9181/api/v0/purge"
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, url, nil)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	purgeSub, err := cdb.Events().Subscribe(event.PurgeName)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	handler, err := NewHandler(cdb)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+
+	res := rec.Result()
+	require.Equal(t, 400, res.StatusCode)
+
+	// test will timeout if purge never received
+	<-purgeSub.Message()
+}