diff --git a/.secrets.baseline b/.secrets.baseline
index 5901ed1..c96422d 100644
--- a/.secrets.baseline
+++ b/.secrets.baseline
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@
         "filename": "gen3workflow/config-default.yaml",
         "hashed_secret": "afc848c316af1a89d49826c5ae9d00ed769415f3",
         "is_verified": false,
-        "line_number": 37
+        "line_number": 39
       }
     ],
     "migrations/versions/e1886270d9d2_create_system_key_table.py": [
@@ -209,5 +209,5 @@
       }
     ]
   },
-  "generated_at": "2025-01-09T21:36:04Z"
+  "generated_at": "2025-01-24T23:29:16Z"
 }
diff --git a/gen3workflow/app.py b/gen3workflow/app.py
index 13b0a77..f62255b 100644
--- a/gen3workflow/app.py
+++ b/gen3workflow/app.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 import httpx
 from importlib.metadata import version
+import logging
 import os
 
 from cdislogging import get_logger
@@ -18,13 +19,13 @@ def get_app(httpx_client=None) -> FastAPI:
     logger.info("Initializing app")
     config.validate()
 
-    debug = config["DEBUG"]
+    debug = config["APP_DEBUG"]
     log_level = "debug" if debug else "info"
 
     app = FastAPI(
         title="Gen3Workflow",
         version=version("gen3workflow"),
-        debug=debug,
+        debug=config["APP_DEBUG"],
         root_path=config["DOCS_URL_PREFIX"],
     )
     app.async_client = httpx_client or httpx.AsyncClient()
diff --git a/gen3workflow/config-default.yaml b/gen3workflow/config-default.yaml
index 5d79e16..f19ce85 100644
--- a/gen3workflow/config-default.yaml
+++ b/gen3workflow/config-default.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 ##########
 
 HOSTNAME: localhost
-DEBUG: false
+APP_DEBUG: false
+# httpx debug mode is very verbose, so the setting is separate from the main app debug mode
+HTTPX_DEBUG: false
 DOCS_URL_PREFIX: /gen3workflow
 
 # override the default Arborist URL; ignored if already set as an environment variable
diff --git a/gen3workflow/config.py b/gen3workflow/config.py
index 77ec3a6..99b63be 100644
--- a/gen3workflow/config.py
+++ b/gen3workflow/config.py
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ def validate_top_level_configs(self) -> None:
             "additionalProperties": False,
             "properties": {
                 "HOSTNAME": {"type": "string"},
-                "DEBUG": {"type": "boolean"},
+                "APP_DEBUG": {"type": "boolean"},
+                "HTTPX_DEBUG": {"type": "boolean"},
                 "DOCS_URL_PREFIX": {"type": "string"},
                 "ARBORIST_URL": {"type": ["string", "null"]},
                 "MOCK_AUTH": {"type": "boolean"},
diff --git a/gunicorn.conf.py b/gunicorn.conf.py
index 3138302..ab166a0 100644
--- a/gunicorn.conf.py
+++ b/gunicorn.conf.py
@@ -28,14 +28,17 @@ def __init__(self, cfg):
         super().__init__(cfg)
 
         self._remove_handlers(logging.getLogger())
+
+        # httpx uses the log level it sees first when the client is initialized, which is this one
         cdislogging.get_logger(
-            None, log_level="debug" if app_config["DEBUG"] else "warn"
+            None, log_level="debug" if app_config["HTTPX_DEBUG"] else "warn"
         )
+
         for logger_name in ["gunicorn", "gunicorn.error", "gunicorn.access"]:
             self._remove_handlers(logging.getLogger(logger_name))
             cdislogging.get_logger(
                 logger_name,
-                log_level="debug" if app_config["DEBUG"] else "info",
+                log_level="debug" if app_config["APP_DEBUG"] else "info",
             )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test-gen3workflow-config.yaml b/tests/test-gen3workflow-config.yaml
index b3aff15..f67d2b8 100644
--- a/tests/test-gen3workflow-config.yaml
+++ b/tests/test-gen3workflow-config.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-DEBUG: true
+APP_DEBUG: true
 ARBORIST_URL: http://test-arborist-server
 
 S3_ENDPOINTS_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: test-aws-key-id