diff --git a/settings.py b/settings.py
index a201c5e519..53cfae6a6a 100644
--- a/settings.py
+++ b/settings.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-COURSEWARE_ENABLED = True
+if 'COURSEWARE_ENABLED' not in locals():
+   COURSEWARE_ENABLED = True
 if 'TRACK_DIR' not in locals():
    ASKBOT_ENABLED = True
 if not COURSEWARE_ENABLED:
diff --git a/settings_no_courseware.py b/settings_no_courseware.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..704afa17fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/settings_no_courseware.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+COURSEWARE_ENABLED = False
+execfile("settings.py")