diff --git a/swh/web/config.py b/swh/web/config.py
--- a/swh/web/config.py
+++ b/swh/web/config.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from swh.vault import get_vault
 from swh.scheduler import get_scheduler
 
+PROJECT_ROOT_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
 
 DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     'allowed_hosts': ('list', []),
@@ -81,6 +82,8 @@
         'site_key': '',
         'private_key': ''
     }),
+    'development_db': ('string', os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT_DIR,
+                                              'settings', 'db.sqlite3')),
     'production_db': ('string', '/var/lib/swh/web.sqlite3'),
     'deposit': ('dict', {
         'private_api_url': 'https://deposit.softwareheritage.org/1/private/',
diff --git a/swh/web/settings/common.py b/swh/web/settings/common.py
--- a/swh/web/settings/common.py
+++ b/swh/web/settings/common.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
 DATABASES = {
     'default': {
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
-        'NAME': os.path.join(PROJECT_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
+        'NAME': swh_web_config['development_db'],
     }
 }