diff --git a/meet/Dockerfile b/meet/Dockerfile
index 9cd7327..94c999f 100644
--- a/meet/Dockerfile
+++ b/meet/Dockerfile
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ RUN \
     echo "deb [${KOPANO_REPOSITORY_FLAGS}] ${KOPANO_MEET_REPOSITORY_URL} ./" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kopano.list; \
     # install
     apt-get update && \
-    set -x && \
     # TODO mime-support could be remove once its an official dependency of kopano-kwebd
     apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
         mime-support \
@@ -51,7 +50,6 @@ RUN \
         ${ADDITIONAL_KOPANO_PACKAGES} \
         && \
     cp /usr/share/doc/kopano-meet-webapp/config.json.in /usr/share/kopano-kweb/www/config/kopano/meet.json && \
-    set +x && \
     rm -rf /var/cache/apt /var/lib/apt/lists
 
 ENV KOPANO_LOCALE="de_DE.UTF-8"
diff --git a/meet/start-service.sh b/meet/start-service.sh
index f22c7be..dfdd555 100755
--- a/meet/start-service.sh
+++ b/meet/start-service.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ADDITIONAL_KOPANO_PACKAGES=${ADDITIONAL_KOPANO_PACKAGES:-""}
 
 set -eu # unset variables are errors & non-zero return values exit the whole script
+[ "$DEBUG" ] && set -x
 
 if [ ! -e /kopano/"$SERVICE_TO_START".py ]; then
 	echo "Invalid service specified: $SERVICE_TO_START" | ts
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ echo "Updating $CONFIG_JSON"
 for setting in $(compgen -A variable KCCONF_MEET); do
 	setting2=${setting#KCCONF_MEET_}
 	# dots in setting2 need to be escaped to not be handled as separate entities in the json file
-	jq ".\"${setting2//_/\".\"}\" = \"${!setting}\"" $CONFIG_JSON | sponge $CONFIG_JSON
+	jq ".\"${setting2//_/\".\"}\" = ${!setting}" $CONFIG_JSON | sponge $CONFIG_JSON
 done
 
 # enable Kopano WebApp in the app switcher