diff --git a/services/web/config/settings.defaults.coffee b/services/web/config/settings.defaults.coffee
index b4af2c1208..0d64c03a0c 100644
--- a/services/web/config/settings.defaults.coffee
+++ b/services/web/config/settings.defaults.coffee
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ module.exports = settings =
 	# --------
 	security:
 		sessionSecret: sessionSecret
-		bcryptRounds: if process.env['NODE_ENV'] == 'test' then 1 else 12 # number of rounds used to hash user passwords (raised to power 2)
+		bcryptRounds: (parseInt(process.env['BCRYPT_ROUNDS'], 10) || 12) # number of rounds used to hash user passwords (raised to power 2)
 
 	httpAuthUsers: httpAuthUsers
 
diff --git a/services/web/docker-compose.ci.yml b/services/web/docker-compose.ci.yml
index 9c2f8f70b2..bdbdaa2731 100644
--- a/services/web/docker-compose.ci.yml
+++ b/services/web/docker-compose.ci.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ services:
     image: ci/$PROJECT_NAME:$BRANCH_NAME-$BUILD_NUMBER
     working_dir: /app
     environment:
+      BCRYPT_ROUNDS: 1
       REDIS_HOST: redis
       MONGO_URL: "mongodb://mongo/sharelatex"
       SHARELATEX_ALLOW_PUBLIC_ACCESS: 'true'
diff --git a/services/web/docker-compose.yml b/services/web/docker-compose.yml
index fcae072cea..952dacd6cc 100644
--- a/services/web/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/services/web/docker-compose.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ services:
       - .:/app
     working_dir: /app
     environment:
+      BCRYPT_ROUNDS: 1
       REDIS_HOST: redis
       MONGO_URL: "mongodb://mongo/sharelatex"
       SHARELATEX_ALLOW_PUBLIC_ACCESS: 'true'