diff --git a/test/functional/__init__.py b/test/functional/__init__.py
index 73f3d4cb47..41252c8177 100644
--- a/test/functional/__init__.py
+++ b/test/functional/__init__.py
@@ -824,7 +824,8 @@ def setup_package():
     global web_front_end
     web_front_end = config.get('web_front_end', 'integral')
     global normalized_urls
-    normalized_urls = config.get('normalized_urls', False)
+    normalized_urls = utils.config_true_value(
+        config.get('normalized_urls', False))
 
     global orig_collate
     orig_collate = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_COLLATE)