diff --git a/src/lib/create-config.ts b/src/lib/create-config.ts
index f1989fce65..bea9a759ed 100644
--- a/src/lib/create-config.ts
+++ b/src/lib/create-config.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,15 @@ import {
 } from './types/option';
 import { defaultLogProvider, validateLogProvider } from './logger';
 
+const safeToUpper = (s: string) => (s ? s.toUpperCase() : s);
+
+export function authTypeFromString(
+    s?: string,
+    defaultType: IAuthType = IAuthType.OPEN_SOURCE,
+): IAuthType {
+    return IAuthType[safeToUpper(s)] || defaultType;
+}
+
 function safeNumber(envVar, defaultVal): number {
     if (envVar) {
         try {
@@ -86,12 +95,9 @@ const defaultVersionOption: IVersionOption = {
     enable: safeBoolean(process.env.CHECK_VERSION, true),
 };
 
-const authType = (defaultType: IAuthType): IAuthType =>
-    IAuthType[process.env.AUTH_TYPE] || defaultType;
-
 const defaultAuthentication: IAuthOption = {
     enableApiToken: safeBoolean(process.env.AUTH_ENABLE_API_TOKEN, true),
-    type: authType(IAuthType.OPEN_SOURCE),
+    type: authTypeFromString(process.env.AUTH_TYPE),
     customAuthHandler: () => {},
     createAdminUser: false,
 };
@@ -119,7 +125,7 @@ const dbPort = (dbConfig: Partial<IDBOption>): Partial<IDBOption> => {
     return dbConfig;
 };
 
-function createConfig(options: IUnleashOptions): IUnleashConfig {
+export function createConfig(options: IUnleashOptions): IUnleashConfig {
     let extraDbOptions = {};
     if (options.databaseUrl) {
         extraDbOptions = parse(options.databaseUrl);
@@ -193,5 +199,7 @@ function createConfig(options: IUnleashOptions): IUnleashConfig {
     };
 }
 
-export default createConfig;
-module.exports = createConfig;
+module.exports = {
+    createConfig,
+    authTypeFromString,
+};
diff --git a/src/lib/middleware/api-token-middleware.test.ts b/src/lib/middleware/api-token-middleware.test.ts
index 1baa1b626f..74370613ed 100644
--- a/src/lib/middleware/api-token-middleware.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/middleware/api-token-middleware.test.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import apiTokenMiddleware from './api-token-middleware';
 import getLogger from '../../test/fixtures/no-logger';
 import User from '../user';
 import { CLIENT } from '../permissions';
-import createConfig from '../create-config';
+import { createTestConfig } from '../../test/config/test-config';
 
 let config: any;
 
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ test('should not add user if disabled', async t => {
         getUserForToken: sinon.fake.returns(apiUser),
     };
 
-    const disabledConfig = createConfig({
+    const disabledConfig = createTestConfig({
         getLogger,
         authentication: {
             enableApiToken: false,
diff --git a/src/lib/middleware/rbac-middleware.test.ts b/src/lib/middleware/rbac-middleware.test.ts
index 9f5d871ece..31947fa5bc 100644
--- a/src/lib/middleware/rbac-middleware.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/middleware/rbac-middleware.test.ts
@@ -3,19 +3,18 @@ import test from 'ava';
 import sinon from 'sinon';
 
 import rbacMiddleware from './rbac-middleware';
-import getLogger from '../../test/fixtures/no-logger';
 import ffStore from '../../test/fixtures/fake-feature-toggle-store';
 import User from '../user';
 import perms from '../permissions';
 import { IUnleashConfig } from '../types/option';
-import createConfig from '../create-config';
+import { createTestConfig } from '../../test/config/test-config';
 
 let config: IUnleashConfig;
 let featureToggleStore: any;
 
 test.beforeEach(() => {
     featureToggleStore = ffStore();
-    config = createConfig({ getLogger });
+    config = createTestConfig();
 });
 
 test('should add checkRbac to request', t => {
diff --git a/src/lib/server-impl.ts b/src/lib/server-impl.ts
index e40add1cdb..0d21e3b863 100644
--- a/src/lib/server-impl.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server-impl.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import getApp from './app';
 import { createMetricsMonitor } from './metrics';
 import { createStores } from './db';
 import { createServices } from './services';
-import createConfig from './create-config';
+import { createConfig } from './create-config';
 import User from './user';
 
 import permissions from './permissions';
diff --git a/src/lib/types/option.ts b/src/lib/types/option.ts
index 415211f18d..78a472f360 100644
--- a/src/lib/types/option.ts
+++ b/src/lib/types/option.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ export enum IAuthType {
     CUSTOM = 'custom',
     NONE = 'none',
 }
+
 export interface IAuthOption {
     enableApiToken: boolean;
     type: IAuthType;
diff --git a/src/server-dev.ts b/src/server-dev.ts
index 9d29798bf5..41d7777973 100644
--- a/src/server-dev.ts
+++ b/src/server-dev.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 import unleash from './lib/server-impl';
-import createConfig from "./lib/create-config";
+import { createConfig } from './lib/create-config';
 
 unleash.start(createConfig({
     db: {
diff --git a/src/test/config/create-config.test.ts b/src/test/config/create-config.test.ts
index f192aa77fb..937ecb8278 100644
--- a/src/test/config/create-config.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/config/create-config.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import test from 'ava';
-import createConfig from '../../lib/create-config';
-import { IDBOption } from '../../lib/types/option';
+import { createConfig, authTypeFromString } from '../../lib/create-config';
+import { IAuthType, IDBOption } from '../../lib/types/option';
 
 test('Should use DATABASE_URL from env', t => {
     const databaseUrl = 'postgres://u:p@localhost:5432/name';
@@ -71,3 +71,28 @@ test('Can set baseUriPath', t => {
     const config = createConfig({ server: { baseUriPath } });
     t.is(config.server.baseUriPath, baseUriPath);
 });
+
+test('can convert both upper and lowercase string to enum', t => {
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('demo'), IAuthType.DEMO);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('DEMO'), IAuthType.DEMO);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('DeMo'), IAuthType.DEMO);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('open_source'), IAuthType.OPEN_SOURCE);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('OPEN_SOURCE'), IAuthType.OPEN_SOURCE);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('ENTERPRISE'), IAuthType.ENTERPRISE);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('enterprise'), IAuthType.ENTERPRISE);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('custom'), IAuthType.CUSTOM);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('CUSTOM'), IAuthType.CUSTOM);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('none'), IAuthType.NONE);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('NONE'), IAuthType.NONE);
+    t.is(authTypeFromString('unknown-string'), IAuthType.OPEN_SOURCE);
+});
+
+test('Can set auth type programmatically with a string', t => {
+    const config = createConfig({
+        authentication: {
+            // @ts-ignore
+            type: 'demo',
+        },
+    });
+    t.is(config.authentication.type, IAuthType.DEMO);
+});
diff --git a/src/test/config/test-config.ts b/src/test/config/test-config.ts
index 7b56b586b4..9947771e70 100644
--- a/src/test/config/test-config.ts
+++ b/src/test/config/test-config.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import {
 } from '../../lib/types/option';
 import getLogger from '../fixtures/no-logger';
 
-import createConfig from '../../lib/create-config';
+import { createConfig } from '../../lib/create-config';
 
 function mergeAll<T>(objects: Partial<T>[]): T {
     return merge.all<T>(objects.filter(i => i));
@@ -24,3 +24,7 @@ export function createTestConfig(config?: IUnleashOptions): IUnleashConfig {
     const options = mergeAll<IUnleashOptions>([testConfig, config]);
     return createConfig(options);
 }
+
+module.exports = {
+    createTestConfig,
+};
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/api/auth/reset-password-controller.e2e.test.ts b/src/test/e2e/api/auth/reset-password-controller.e2e.test.ts
index fa553b3e80..24a2d9b076 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/api/auth/reset-password-controller.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/e2e/api/auth/reset-password-controller.e2e.test.ts
@@ -12,12 +12,12 @@ import UserService from '../../../../lib/services/user-service';
 import { setupApp } from '../../helpers/test-helper';
 import { EmailService } from '../../../../lib/services/email-service';
 import User from '../../../../lib/user';
-import createConfig from '../../../../lib/create-config';
 import { IUnleashConfig } from '../../../../lib/types/option';
+import { createTestConfig } from '../../../config/test-config';
 
 let stores;
 let db;
-const config: IUnleashConfig = createConfig({
+const config: IUnleashConfig = createTestConfig({
     getLogger,
     server: {
         unleashUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/helpers/database-init.js b/src/test/e2e/helpers/database-init.js
index 29beda53fc..f50e4d3d4d 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/helpers/database-init.js
+++ b/src/test/e2e/helpers/database-init.js
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 'use strict';
 
-import createConfig from '../../../lib/create-config';
-
 const { EventEmitter } = require('events');
 const migrator = require('../../../migrator');
 const { createStores } = require('../../../lib/db');
 const { createDb } = require('../../../lib/db/db-pool');
 const dbConfig = require('./database-config');
-
+const { createTestConfig } = require('../../config/test-config');
 const dbState = require('./database.json');
 
 // require('db-migrate-shared').log.silence(false);
@@ -85,7 +83,7 @@ async function setupDatabase(stores) {
 }
 
 export default async function init(databaseSchema = 'test', getLogger) {
-    const config = createConfig({
+    const config = createTestConfig({
         db: {
             ...dbConfig.getDb(),
             pool: { min: 2, max: 8 },
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/services/api-token-service.e2e.test.ts b/src/test/e2e/services/api-token-service.e2e.test.ts
index 18b4cca190..8e32b1494c 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/services/api-token-service.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/e2e/services/api-token-service.e2e.test.ts
@@ -3,15 +3,14 @@ import dbInit from '../helpers/database-init';
 import getLogger from '../../fixtures/no-logger';
 import { ApiTokenService } from '../../../lib/services/api-token-service';
 import { ApiTokenType, IApiToken } from '../../../lib/db/api-token-store';
-import createConfig from '../../../lib/create-config';
+import { createTestConfig } from '../../config/test-config';
 
 let db;
 let stores;
 let apiTokenService: ApiTokenService;
 
 test.before(async () => {
-    const config = createConfig({
-        getLogger,
+    const config = createTestConfig({
         server: { baseUriPath: '/test' },
     });
     db = await dbInit('api_token_service_serial', getLogger);
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/services/reset-token-service.e2e.test.ts b/src/test/e2e/services/reset-token-service.e2e.test.ts
index edc8883a13..46ba35753a 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/services/reset-token-service.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/e2e/services/reset-token-service.e2e.test.ts
@@ -8,11 +8,9 @@ import NotFoundError from '../../../lib/error/notfound-error';
 import { EmailService } from '../../../lib/services/email-service';
 import User from '../../../lib/user';
 import { IUnleashConfig } from '../../../lib/types/option';
-import createConfig from '../../../lib/create-config';
+import { createTestConfig } from '../../config/test-config';
 
-const config: IUnleashConfig = createConfig({
-    getLogger,
-});
+const config: IUnleashConfig = createTestConfig();
 
 let stores;
 let db;
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/services/user-service.e2e.test.ts b/src/test/e2e/services/user-service.e2e.test.ts
index e3ab7f3e43..bd59dc1a82 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/services/user-service.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/e2e/services/user-service.e2e.test.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ import User from '../../../lib/user';
 import { IRole } from '../../../lib/db/access-store';
 import ResetTokenService from '../../../lib/services/reset-token-service';
 import { EmailService } from '../../../lib/services/email-service';
-import { IAuthType } from '../../../lib/types/option';
-import createConfig from '../../../lib/create-config';
+import { createTestConfig } from '../../config/test-config';
 
 let db;
 let stores;
@@ -20,7 +19,7 @@ let adminRole: IRole;
 test.before(async () => {
     db = await dbInit('user_service_serial', getLogger);
     stores = db.stores;
-    const config = createConfig({ getLogger });
+    const config = createTestConfig();
     const accessService = new AccessService(stores, config);
     const resetTokenService = new ResetTokenService(stores, config);
     const emailService = new EmailService(undefined, config.getLogger);