diff --git a/doc/source/topics/policy.rst b/doc/source/topics/policy.rst
index 9a9c676251..21a03a1332 100644
--- a/doc/source/topics/policy.rst
+++ b/doc/source/topics/policy.rst
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ files containing a "default" rule would be ambiguous.
 Default: ``policy.check``
 
 This value should not be changed, although removing it would be a means to
-bypass all policy checks.
+bypass all policy checks. Set it to ``None`` in ``local_settings.py`` to
+do this.
 
 
 How user's roles are determined
diff --git a/openstack_dashboard/settings.py b/openstack_dashboard/settings.py
index 3e2c1a8cc6..800fee0454 100644
--- a/openstack_dashboard/settings.py
+++ b/openstack_dashboard/settings.py
@@ -297,7 +297,14 @@ THEME_COLLECTION_DIR = 'themes'
 # Theme Cookie Name
 THEME_COOKIE_NAME = 'theme'
 
-POLICY_CHECK_FUNCTION = None
+
+def check(actions, request, target=None):
+    # Note(Itxaka): This is to prevent circular dependencies and apps not ready
+    # If you do django imports in your settings, you are gonna have a bad time
+    from openstack_auth import policy
+    return policy.check(actions, request, target)
+
+POLICY_CHECK_FUNCTION = check
 
 CSRF_COOKIE_AGE = None
 
@@ -428,16 +435,6 @@ settings_utils.update_dashboards(
 )
 INSTALLED_APPS[0:0] = ADD_INSTALLED_APPS
 
-
-def check(actions, request, target=None):
-    # Note(Itxaka): This is to prevent circular dependencies and apps not ready
-    # If you do django imports in your settings, you are gonna have a bad time
-    from openstack_auth import policy
-    return policy.check(actions, request, target)
-
-if POLICY_CHECK_FUNCTION is None:
-    POLICY_CHECK_FUNCTION = check
-
 NG_TEMPLATE_CACHE_AGE = NG_TEMPLATE_CACHE_AGE if not DEBUG else 0
 
 # This base context objects gets added to the offline context generator