diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 48f43e76..d8ab9c17 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -27,3 +27,6 @@ __pypackages__/
 
 #mypyr
 .mypy_cache/
+
+# macos
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/tad/core/config.py b/tad/core/config.py
index 51e82e94..3fe570bc 100644
--- a/tad/core/config.py
+++ b/tad/core/config.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import secrets
 import warnings
-from typing import Annotated, Any, Literal, Self
+from typing import Annotated, Any, Literal, TypeVar
 
 from pydantic import (
     AnyUrl,
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
 
 from tad.core.exceptions import SettingsError
 
+# Self type is not available in Python 3.10 so create our own with TypeVar
+SelfSettings = TypeVar("SelfSettings", bound="Settings")
+
 
 def parse_cors(v: Any) -> list[str] | str:
     if isinstance(v, str) and not v.startswith("["):
@@ -81,14 +84,14 @@ def _check_default_secret(self, var_name: str, value: str | None) -> None:
                 raise SettingsError(message)
 
     @model_validator(mode="after")
-    def _enforce_non_default_secrets(self) -> Self:
+    def _enforce_non_default_secrets(self: SelfSettings) -> SelfSettings:
         self._check_default_secret("SECRET_KEY", self.SECRET_KEY)
         self._check_default_secret("APP_DATABASE_PASSWORD", self.APP_DATABASE_PASSWORD)
 
         return self
 
     @model_validator(mode="after")
-    def _enforce_database_rules(self) -> Self:
+    def _enforce_database_rules(self: SelfSettings) -> SelfSettings:
         if self.ENVIRONMENT != "local" and self.APP_DATABASE_SCHEME == "sqlite":
             raise SettingsError("SQLite is not supported in production")  # noqa: TRY003
         return self
diff --git a/tad/tests/conftest.py b/tad/tests/conftest.py
index 2115d941..8bc5bfe8 100644
--- a/tad/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tad/tests/conftest.py
@@ -6,9 +6,8 @@
 
 from tad.main import app
 
-# todo(berry): add database fixtures
-
 
+# todo(berry): add database fixtures
 @pytest.fixture(scope="module")
 def client() -> Generator[TestClient, None, None]:
     with TestClient(app, raise_server_exceptions=True) as c: