diff --git a/src/servers/model/CHANGELOG.md b/src/servers/model/CHANGELOG.md
index b6414cb23..fc3c98925 100644
--- a/src/servers/model/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/servers/model/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# 0.9.13
+* /surroundingLigands: honor `omit_water=true|false` for REST GET requests (boolean parser previously coerced both to `false`)
+
 # 0.9.12
 * add `health-check` endpoint + `healthCheckPath` config prop to report service health
 
diff --git a/src/servers/model/server/api.ts b/src/servers/model/server/api.ts
index 70d864251..f5cdec422 100644
--- a/src/servers/model/server/api.ts
+++ b/src/servers/model/server/api.ts
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ function _normalizeQueryParams(params: { [p: string]: string }, paramList: Query
                 case QueryParamType.String: el = value; break;
                 case QueryParamType.Integer: el = parseInt(value); break;
                 case QueryParamType.Float: el = parseFloat(value); break;
-                case QueryParamType.Boolean: el = Boolean(+value); break;
+                case QueryParamType.Boolean: el = isTrue(value); break;
             }
 
             if (p.validation) p.validation(el);
diff --git a/src/servers/model/version.ts b/src/servers/model/version.ts
index d700f6931..65cb9e431 100644
--- a/src/servers/model/version.ts
+++ b/src/servers/model/version.ts
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@
  * @author David Sehnal <david.sehnal@gmail.com>
  */
 
-export const VERSION = '0.9.12';
\ No newline at end of file
+export const VERSION = '0.9.13';
\ No newline at end of file