diff --git a/.spellcheck-wordlist.txt b/.spellcheck-wordlist.txt
index b52232d2..5bf4e8a6 100644
--- a/.spellcheck-wordlist.txt
+++ b/.spellcheck-wordlist.txt
@@ -369,3 +369,5 @@ JupyterHub
 SSLProxyCACertificateFile
 ANTISLOWLORIS
 slowloris
+PYTEST
+pytest
diff --git a/Dockerfile.rocky9 b/Dockerfile.rocky9
index 9cf69caa..245cf768 100755
--- a/Dockerfile.rocky9
+++ b/Dockerfile.rocky9
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ ARG ENABLE_JOBS=True
 ARG ENABLE_RESOURCES=True
 ARG ENABLE_EVENTS=True
 ARG ENABLE_GRAVATARS=True
+ARG ENABLE_PYTEST=False
 ARG ENABLE_SITESTATUS=True
 ARG STATUS_SYSTEM_MATCH="ANY"
 ARG ENABLE_FREEZE=False
@@ -744,6 +745,7 @@ ARG WITH_PY3
 ARG MODERN_WSGIDAV
 ARG UPGRADE_PARAMIKO
 ARG ENABLE_CLOUD
+ARG ENABLE_PYTEST
 ARG OPENSTACKSDK_VERSION_OVERRIDE
 ARG TRAC_ADMIN_PATH
 
@@ -834,9 +836,11 @@ RUN if [ "${WITH_PY3}" = "True" ]; then \
       pip3 install --no-cache-dir --prefix=$(python3-config --prefix) cracklib; \
     fi;
 
-# Module required to run pytests but conflicts with TracTags
-RUN if [ "${WITH_PY3}" = "True" ]; then \
-      if [ -z "${TRAC_ADMIN_PATH}" ]; then \
+# Module for pytests but unwanted in production and conflicts with TracTags
+RUN if [ "${ENABLE_PYTEST}" = "True" ]; then \
+      if [ -n "${TRAC_ADMIN_PATH}" ]; then \
+        echo "*** TracTags is incompatible with pytest ***" ; exit 1; \
+      else \
         pip3 install --no-cache-dir pytest; \
       fi; \
     fi;
diff --git a/development.env b/development.env
index 88057770..09b1654b 100644
--- a/development.env
+++ b/development.env
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ ENABLE_EVENTS=True
 ENABLE_QUOTA=False
 ENABLE_ACCOUNTING=False
 ENABLE_GRAVATARS=True
+# Only enable pytest module in development
+ENABLE_PYTEST=True
 ENABLE_SITESTATUS=True
 STATUS_SYSTEM_MATCH=ANY
 ENABLE_FREEZE=True
diff --git a/development_gdp.env b/development_gdp.env
index bfc8f2a8..a83c33f3 100644
--- a/development_gdp.env
+++ b/development_gdp.env
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ ENABLE_EVENTS=False
 ENABLE_QUOTA=False
 ENABLE_ACCOUNTING=False
 ENABLE_GRAVATARS=False
+# Only enable pytest module in development
+ENABLE_PYTEST=True
 ENABLE_SITESTATUS=True
 STATUS_SYSTEM_MATCH=ANY
 ENABLE_FREEZE=False
diff --git a/doc/source/sections/configuration/variables.rst b/doc/source/sections/configuration/variables.rst
index 5f0e0a06..dccd863f 100644
--- a/doc/source/sections/configuration/variables.rst
+++ b/doc/source/sections/configuration/variables.rst
@@ -368,6 +368,9 @@ Variables
    * - ENABLE_GRAVATARS
      - True
      - Enables optional gravatar integration on user profiles of registered users
+   * - ENABLE_PYTEST
+     - False
+     - Enables optional pytest integration for self-test support e.g. during development
    * - ENABLE_SITESTATUS
      - True
      - Enable the built-in site status through the pop-up in the bottom right corner based on events authored in state/wwwpublic/status-events.json .
diff --git a/production.env b/production.env
index 3c8bfa3c..07932489 100644
--- a/production.env
+++ b/production.env
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ ENABLE_EVENTS=True
 ENABLE_QUOTA=False
 ENABLE_ACCOUNTING=False
 ENABLE_GRAVATARS=True
+# Only enable pytest module in development
+ENABLE_PYTEST=False
 ENABLE_SITESTATUS=True
 STATUS_SYSTEM_MATCH=ANY
 ENABLE_FREEZE=True