diff --git a/.ci/ansible/settings.py.j2 b/.ci/ansible/settings.py.j2
index ab8ebb3dce0..0b8a1a16a4d 100644
--- a/.ci/ansible/settings.py.j2
+++ b/.ci/ansible/settings.py.j2
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+SECRET_KEY = "{{ django_secret }}"
 CONTENT_ORIGIN = "{{ pulp_scheme }}://pulp:{{ 443 if pulp_scheme == 'https' else 80 }}"
 ANSIBLE_API_HOSTNAME = "{{ pulp_scheme }}://pulp:{{ 443 if pulp_scheme == 'https' else 80 }}"
 ANSIBLE_CONTENT_HOSTNAME = "{{ pulp_scheme }}://pulp:{{ 443 if pulp_scheme == 'https' else 80 }}/pulp/content"
diff --git a/.ci/ansible/start_container.yaml b/.ci/ansible/start_container.yaml
index e0891b7ab5d..4ef94c861cf 100644
--- a/.ci/ansible/start_container.yaml
+++ b/.ci/ansible/start_container.yaml
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
       ansible.builtin.template:
         src: "settings.py.j2"
         dest: "settings/settings.py"
+      vars:
+        django_secret: "lookup('community.general.random_string', length=50, overwrite_all='abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789!@#$%^&*(-_=+)')"
 
     - name: "Setup docker networking"
       community.docker.docker_network:
diff --git a/CHANGES/+django_secret.bugfix b/CHANGES/+django_secret.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..571ee9046f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/+django_secret.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Stopped shipping an insecure default as DJANGO_SECRET.
diff --git a/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_domains.py b/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_domains.py
index 07c18500f0a..e1399763dcd 100644
--- a/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_domains.py
+++ b/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_domains.py
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 import uuid
 
 import pytest
+from django.conf import settings
 
-from pulpcore.app import settings
 from pulpcore.client.pulp_file import ApiException
 from pulpcore.client.pulpcore import ApiException as CoreApiException
 from pulpcore.client.pulpcore import Repair
diff --git a/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_pulp_export.py b/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_pulp_export.py
index 4650efc0498..d1da49f6b9f 100644
--- a/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_pulp_export.py
+++ b/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_pulp_export.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import uuid
 
 import pytest
+from django.conf import settings
 
-from pulpcore.app import settings
 from pulpcore.client.pulpcore.exceptions import ApiException
 from pulpcore.constants import TASK_STATES
 
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/authentication.py b/pulpcore/app/authentication.py
index 5d5a3cdb449..26a3d8afc97 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/authentication.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/authentication.py
@@ -5,13 +5,12 @@
 from gettext import gettext as _
 
 import jq
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth import authenticate
 from django.contrib.auth.backends import RemoteUserBackend
 from rest_framework.authentication import BaseAuthentication, RemoteUserAuthentication
 from rest_framework.exceptions import AuthenticationFailed
 
-from pulpcore.app import settings
-
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/redis_connection.py b/pulpcore/app/redis_connection.py
index e612680cbd0..87270c11249 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/redis_connection.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/redis_connection.py
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
+from django.conf import settings
 from redis import Redis
 from redis.asyncio import Redis as aRedis
 
-from pulpcore.app.settings import settings
-
 _conn = None
 _a_conn = None
 
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/serializers/exporter.py b/pulpcore/app/serializers/exporter.py
index 33339c4eda3..aec8f4adde2 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/serializers/exporter.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/serializers/exporter.py
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 import re
 from gettext import gettext as _
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from rest_framework import serializers
 from rest_framework.validators import UniqueValidator
 
-from pulpcore.app import models, settings
+from pulpcore.app import models
 from pulpcore.app.serializers import (
     DetailIdentityField,
     DetailRelatedField,
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/serializers/importer.py b/pulpcore/app/serializers/importer.py
index 742ad9ab176..e940f73260a 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/serializers/importer.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/serializers/importer.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import os
 from gettext import gettext as _
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import ObjectDoesNotExist
 from rest_framework import serializers
 from rest_framework.validators import UniqueValidator
 
-from pulpcore.app import models, settings
+from pulpcore.app import models
 from pulpcore.app.serializers import (
     DetailIdentityField,
     ImportIdentityField,
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/serializers/repository.py b/pulpcore/app/serializers/repository.py
index d2b90ff1c4a..4aa13673322 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/serializers/repository.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/serializers/repository.py
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 from cryptography.x509 import load_pem_x509_certificate
+from django.conf import settings
 from rest_framework import fields, serializers
 from rest_framework_nested.serializers import NestedHyperlinkedModelSerializer
 
-from pulpcore.app import models, settings
+from pulpcore.app import models
 from pulpcore.app.serializers import (
     DetailIdentityField,
     DetailRelatedField,
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/settings.py b/pulpcore/app/settings.py
index 08a88ff8174..3663ea57dfc 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/settings.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/settings.py
@@ -82,9 +82,6 @@
 # List of upload handler classes to be applied in order.
 FILE_UPLOAD_HANDLERS = ("pulpcore.app.files.HashingFileUploadHandler",)
 
-# SECURITY WARNING: this should be set to a unique, unpredictable value
-SECRET_KEY = "SECRET"
-
 # Key used to encrypt fields in the database
 DB_ENCRYPTION_KEY = "/etc/pulp/certs/database_fields.symmetric.key"
 
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/views/importer.py b/pulpcore/app/views/importer.py
index 5e5f104588a..e49aa43ba04 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/views/importer.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/views/importer.py
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 import os
 from gettext import gettext as _
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from drf_spectacular.utils import extend_schema
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.views import APIView
 
-from pulpcore.app import settings
 from pulpcore.app.serializers import PulpImportCheckResponseSerializer, PulpImportCheckSerializer
 
 
diff --git a/pulpcore/cache/cache.py b/pulpcore/cache/cache.py
index 4fdaf7d691f..8a7ee978f51 100644
--- a/pulpcore/cache/cache.py
+++ b/pulpcore/cache/cache.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 from aiohttp.web import FileResponse, HTTPSuccessful, Request, Response
 from aiohttp.web_exceptions import HTTPFound
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.http import FileResponse as ApiFileResponse
 from django.http import HttpResponse, HttpResponseRedirect
 from redis import ConnectionError
@@ -16,7 +17,6 @@
     get_async_redis_connection,
     get_redis_connection,
 )
-from pulpcore.app.settings import settings
 from pulpcore.responses import ArtifactResponse
 
 DEFAULT_EXPIRES_TTL = settings.CACHE_SETTINGS["EXPIRES_TTL"]
diff --git a/pulpcore/tasking/kafka.py b/pulpcore/tasking/kafka.py
index 3f6f0fd447d..808e20d7bbf 100644
--- a/pulpcore/tasking/kafka.py
+++ b/pulpcore/tasking/kafka.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 from django.conf import settings
 
-_bootstrap_servers = settings.get("KAFKA_BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS")
+_bootstrap_servers = getattr(settings, "KAFKA_BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS")
 
 
 if _bootstrap_servers is None:
diff --git a/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/test_auth.py b/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/test_auth.py
index effd89c604d..b8b50111529 100644
--- a/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/test_auth.py
+++ b/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/test_auth.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 from base64 import b64encode
 
 import pytest
+from django.conf import settings
 
-from pulpcore.app import settings
 from pulpcore.client.pulpcore import ApiException
 
 
diff --git a/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_filesystemexport.py b/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_filesystemexport.py
index 414b1b94513..bd2e4f516da 100644
--- a/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_filesystemexport.py
+++ b/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_filesystemexport.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 import uuid
 
 import pytest
+from django.conf import settings
 
-from pulpcore.app import settings
 from pulpcore.client.pulp_file import RepositorySyncURL
 from pulpcore.client.pulpcore.exceptions import ApiException
 
diff --git a/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_pulpimport.py b/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_pulpimport.py
index ef34be5a060..d3067da5069 100644
--- a/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_pulpimport.py
+++ b/pulpcore/tests/functional/api/using_plugin/test_pulpimport.py
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
+from django.conf import settings
 
-from pulpcore.app import settings
 from pulpcore.client.pulp_file import RepositorySyncURL
 from pulpcore.client.pulpcore.exceptions import ApiException
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e44ac1a73ef..5914ca16293 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -162,7 +162,6 @@ replace = "version = \"{new_version}\""
 [[tool.bumpversion.files]]
 filename = "./setup.py"
 
-
 [tool.ruff]
 # This section is managed by the plugin template. Do not edit manually.
 line-length = 100
@@ -184,6 +183,7 @@ extend-select = [
 [tool.ruff.lint.flake8-tidy-imports.banned-api]
 # This section is managed by the plugin template. Do not edit manually.
 "distutils".msg = "The 'distutils' module has been deprecated since Python 3.9."
+"pulpcore.app.settings".msg = "Always import 'settings' from 'django.conf' instead."
 
 [tool.ruff.lint.isort]
 # This section is managed by the plugin template. Do not edit manually.