Same value for MEDIA_ROOT and STATIC_ROOT ========================================= According to Django's documentation, ``MEDIA_ROOT`` and ``STATIC_ROOT`` must have different values. Before STATIC_ROOT was introduced, ``MEDIA_ROOT`` was also used (as fallback) to also serve static files. As this can have serious security implications, Django has validation checks to prevent it. Anti-pattern ------------ ``MEDIA_ROOT`` and ``STATIC_ROOT`` point to the same folder. .. code:: python """ settings.py """ # Media and static root are identical STATIC_ROOT = '/path/to/my/static/files' MEDIA_ROOT = '/path/to/my/static/files' Best practice ------------- Ensure, ``STATIC_ROOT`` and ``MEDIA_ROOT`` point to different folders. .. code:: python """ settings.py """ STATIC_ROOT = '/path/to/my/static/files' MEDIA_ROOT = '/path/to/my/media/files' References ---------- - `Django documentation - Settings: MEDIA_ROOT `_