diff --git a/Makefile.local b/Makefile.local
--- a/Makefile.local
+++ b/Makefile.local
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@
 
 .PHONY: run-migrations
 run-migrations:
-	python3 swh/web/manage.py migrate -v0 2>/dev/null
-	python3 swh/web/manage.py createcachetable -v0 2>/dev/null
+	python3 swh/web/manage.py migrate --settings=swh.web.settings.development -v0 2>/dev/null
+	python3 swh/web/manage.py createcachetable --settings=swh.web.settings.development -v0 2>/dev/null
 
 .PHONY: run-migrations-prod
 run-migrations-prod:
@@ -44,16 +44,16 @@
 	echo "flush_all" | nc -q 2 localhost 11211 2>/dev/null
 
 run-django-webpack-devserver: run-migrations yarn-install
-	bash -c "trap 'trap - SIGINT SIGTERM ERR; kill %1' SIGINT SIGTERM ERR; $(YARN) start-dev & sleep 10 && cd swh/web && python3 manage.py runserver --nostatic"
+	bash -c "trap 'trap - SIGINT SIGTERM ERR; kill %1' SIGINT SIGTERM ERR; $(YARN) start-dev & sleep 10 && cd swh/web && python3 manage.py runserver --nostatic --settings=swh.web.settings.development"
 
 run-django-webpack-dev: build-webpack-dev run-migrations
-	python3 swh/web/manage.py runserver --nostatic
+	python3 swh/web/manage.py runserver --nostatic --settings=swh.web.settings.development
 
 run-django-webpack-prod: build-webpack-prod run-migrations-prod clear-memcached
 	python3 swh/web/manage.py runserver --nostatic --settings=swh.web.settings.production
 
 run-django-server-dev: run-migrations
-	python3 swh/web/manage.py runserver --nostatic
+	python3 swh/web/manage.py runserver --nostatic --settings=swh.web.settings.development
 
 run-django-server-prod: run-migrations-prod clear-memcached
 	python3 swh/web/manage.py runserver --nostatic --settings=swh.web.settings.production
diff --git a/swh/web/manage.py b/swh/web/manage.py
--- a/swh/web/manage.py
+++ b/swh/web/manage.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 # License: GNU Affero General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
-import os
 import sys
 
 from swh.web import config
@@ -16,12 +15,6 @@
     # in swh/web/urls.py, we pass the nostatic options to runserver
     # in order to have gzip compression enabled.
     swh_web_config['serve_assets'] = '--nostatic' in sys.argv
-    if len(sys.argv) > 1 and sys.argv[1] == 'test':
-        os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE",
-                              "swh.web.settings.tests")
-    else:
-        os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE",
-                              "swh.web.settings.development")
     # import root urls module for swh-web before running the django dev server
     # in order to ensure it will be automatically reloaded when source files
     # are modified (as django autoreload feature only works if the modules are