diff --git a/R/epidatr-package.R b/R/epidatr-package.R
index 1b22c9e..495368d 100644
--- a/R/epidatr-package.R
+++ b/R/epidatr-package.R
@@ -8,8 +8,14 @@
 "_PACKAGE"
 
 .onLoad <- function(libname, pkgname) {
-  cache_environ$use_cache <- Sys.getenv("EPIDATR_USE_CACHE", unset = FALSE)
-  cache_environ$use_cache <- (cache_environ$use_cache == "TRUE")
+  cache_environ$use_cache <- as.logical(Sys.getenv("EPIDATR_USE_CACHE", unset = FALSE))
+  if (is.na(cache_environ$use_cache)) {
+    cli::cli_warn(
+      "Failed to read EPIDATR_USE_CACHE environment variable.
+        Should be a logical. Defaulting to FALSE."
+    )
+    cache_environ$use_cache <- FALSE
+  }
   if (cache_environ$use_cache) {
     set_cache(startup = TRUE)
   }