diff --git a/configure.py b/configure.py
index b93612af66d..f2c6e0c4dcc 100644
--- a/configure.py
+++ b/configure.py
@@ -1390,7 +1390,7 @@ def main():
   else:
     environ_cp['TF_CONFIGURE_IOS'] = '0'
 
-  if environ_cp.get('TF_ENABLE_XLA', 1):
+  if environ_cp.get('TF_ENABLE_XLA', '1') == '1':
     write_to_bazelrc('build --config=xla')
 
   set_action_env_var(