diff --git a/sapl/settings.py b/sapl/settings.py
index f6814440f..5cd22437e 100644
--- a/sapl/settings.py
+++ b/sapl/settings.py
@@ -84,13 +84,22 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = (
 
 ) + SAPL_APPS
 
+# FTS = Full Text Search
+SEARCH_BACKEND = 'haystack.backends.whoosh_backend.WhooshEngine'
+SEARCH_URL = ('PATH', PROJECT_DIR.child('whoosh'))
+
+SOLR_URL = config('SOLR_URL', cast=str, default='')
+if SOLR_URL:
+    SEARCH_BACKEND = 'haystack.backends.solr_backend.SolrEngine'
+    SEARCH_URL = ('URL', config('SOLR_URL', cast=str))
+    # ...or for multicore...
+    # 'URL': 'http://127.0.0.1:8983/solr/mysite',
+
 
 HAYSTACK_CONNECTIONS = {
     'default': {
-        'ENGINE': 'haystack.backends.solr_backend.SolrEngine',
-        'URL': config('SOLR_URL', cast=str)
-        # ...or for multicore...
-        # 'URL': 'http://127.0.0.1:8983/solr/mysite',
+        'ENGINE': SEARCH_BACKEND,
+        SEARCH_URL[0] : SEARCH_URL[1]
     },
 }