diff --git a/awx/plugins/inventory/rax.py b/awx/plugins/inventory/rax.py
index e3dcfa8a59..f29e0e8ba0 100755
--- a/awx/plugins/inventory/rax.py
+++ b/awx/plugins/inventory/rax.py
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ def setup():
 
     # pyrax does not honor the environment variable CLOUD_VERIFY_SSL=False, so let's help pyrax
     if 'CLOUD_VERIFY_SSL' in os.environ:
-        pyrax.set_setting('verify_ssl', os.environ['CLOUD_VERIFY_SSL'])
+        pyrax.set_setting('verify_ssl', os.environ['CLOUD_VERIFY_SSL'] in [1, 'true', 'True'])
 
     env = get_config(p, 'rax', 'environment', 'RAX_ENV', None)
     if env: