diff --git a/bin/ghlister b/bin/ghlister
--- a/bin/ghlister
+++ b/bin/ghlister
@@ -77,8 +77,6 @@
     args = parse_args()
 
     override_conf = {}
-    if args.db_url:
-        override_conf['lister_db_url'] = args.db_url
 
     lister = GitHubLister(lister_name='github.com',
                           api_baseurl='https://api.github.com',
diff --git a/swh/lister/cli.py b/swh/lister/cli.py
--- a/swh/lister/cli.py
+++ b/swh/lister/cli.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 
     """
     override_conf = {
-        'lister_db_url': db_url,
         'lister': {
             'cls': 'local',
             'args': {'db': db_url}