diff --git a/spec/integration/app_spec.rb b/spec/integration/app_spec.rb
index fddd886a9..c2e9ee526 100644
--- a/spec/integration/app_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/app_spec.rb
@@ -21,10 +21,6 @@ def insert_rails_gem_version(cmd)
 
 describe 'Mongoid application tests' do
   before(:all) do
-    unless SpecConfig.instance.app_tests?
-      skip 'Set APP_TESTS=1 in environment to run application tests'
-    end
-
     require 'fileutils'
     require 'open-uri'
     require 'support/child_process_helper'
diff --git a/spec/support/spec_config.rb b/spec/support/spec_config.rb
index 11b520dcd..019aeee96 100644
--- a/spec/support/spec_config.rb
+++ b/spec/support/spec_config.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def client_debug?
   end
 
   def app_tests?
-    %w[1 true yes].include?(ENV['APP_TESTS']&.downcase)
+    %w[0 false no].exclude?(ENV['APP_TESTS']&.downcase)
   end
 
   def ci?