diff --git a/core/admin/mailu/configuration.py b/core/admin/mailu/configuration.py
index 912a0204..f1bb2283 100644
--- a/core/admin/mailu/configuration.py
+++ b/core/admin/mailu/configuration.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     'SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE': True,
     'CREDENTIAL_ROUNDS': 12,
     'TZ': 'Etc/UTC',
+    'DEFAULT_SPAM_THRESHOLD': 80,
     # Host settings
     'HOST_IMAP': 'imap',
     'HOST_LMTP': 'imap:2525',
@@ -163,6 +164,7 @@ class ConfigManager:
         self.config['MESSAGE_RATELIMIT_EXEMPTION'] = set([s for s in self.config['MESSAGE_RATELIMIT_EXEMPTION'].lower().replace(' ', '').split(',') if s])
         self.config['HOSTNAMES'] = ','.join(hostnames)
         self.config['HOSTNAME'] = hostnames[0]
+        self.config['DEFAULT_SPAM_THRESHOLD'] = int(self.config['DEFAULT_SPAM_THRESHOLD'])
 
         # update the app config
         app.config.update(self.config)
diff --git a/core/admin/mailu/models.py b/core/admin/mailu/models.py
index 6e277fe3..3722003c 100644
--- a/core/admin/mailu/models.py
+++ b/core/admin/mailu/models.py
@@ -509,8 +509,7 @@ class User(Base, Email):
     displayed_name = db.Column(db.String(160), nullable=False, default='')
     spam_enabled = db.Column(db.Boolean, nullable=False, default=True)
     spam_mark_as_read = db.Column(db.Boolean, nullable=False, default=True)
-    spam_threshold = db.Column(db.Integer, nullable=False,
-        default=int(os.environ.get('DEFAULT_SPAM_THRESHOLD', 80)))
+    spam_threshold = db.Column(db.Integer, nullable=False, default=app.config['DEFAULT_SPAM_THRESHOLD'])
 
     # Flask-login attributes
     is_authenticated = True