diff --git a/docs/ENV.md b/docs/ENV.md
index 7a9da6e..acac461 100755
--- a/docs/ENV.md
+++ b/docs/ENV.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ You can configure deployment settings by placing special variables in an `ENV` f
 
 ## Runtime Settings
 
-* `AUTO_RESTART`: Piku will restart all workers every time the app is deployed.
+* `PIKU_AUTO_RESTART` (boolean, defaults to `true`): Piku will restart all workers every time the app is deployed.
 
 ### Python
 
diff --git a/examples/ENV b/examples/ENV
index 2759aea..f875c48 100755
--- a/examples/ENV
+++ b/examples/ENV
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 # NGINX_HTTPS_ONLY=1
 # NGINX_STATIC_PATHS=/path:dir,/path2:dir2...
 # NGINX_INCLUDE_FILE=nginx.conf
-# AUTO_RESTART=1
+# PIKU_AUTO_RESTART=1
 # PYTHON_VERSION=3
 # NODE_VERSION=14.17.6
diff --git a/examples/nodejs-wisp/ENV b/examples/nodejs-wisp/ENV
index 97312af..d30977b 100755
--- a/examples/nodejs-wisp/ENV
+++ b/examples/nodejs-wisp/ENV
@@ -1 +1 @@
-AUTO_RESTART=1
+PIKU_AUTO_RESTART=1
diff --git a/piku.py b/piku.py
index f6c77d5..e20d095 100755
--- a/piku.py
+++ b/piku.py
@@ -846,7 +846,7 @@ def spawn_app(app, deltas={}):
     write_config(live, env)
     write_config(scaling, worker_count, ':')
 
-    if env.get("AUTO_RESTART", False):
+    if env.get('PIKU_AUTO_RESTART', 'true').lower() not in ['0', 'false']:
         config = glob(join(UWSGI_ENABLED, '{}*.ini'.format(app)))
         if len(config):
             echo("-----> Removing uwsgi configs to trigger auto-restart.")