diff --git a/swh/lister/cli.py b/swh/lister/cli.py
--- a/swh/lister/cli.py
+++ b/swh/lister/cli.py
@@ -54,17 +54,15 @@
     from swh.core import config
     ctx.ensure_object(dict)
 
-    override_conf = {}
+    if not config_file:
+        config_file = os.environ.get('SWH_CONFIG_FILENAME')
+    conf = config.read(config_file)
     if db_url:
-        override_conf['lister'] = {
+        conf['lister'] = {
             'cls': 'local',
             'args': {'db': db_url}
         }
-    if not config_file:
-        config_file = os.environ.get('SWH_CONFIG_FILENAME')
-    conf = config.read(config_file, override_conf)
     ctx.obj['config'] = conf
-    ctx.obj['override_conf'] = override_conf
 
 
 @lister.command(name='db-init', context_settings=CONTEXT_SETTINGS)
diff --git a/swh/lister/tests/test_cli.py b/swh/lister/tests/test_cli.py
--- a/swh/lister/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/swh/lister/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -98,21 +98,22 @@
 
 
 def test_task_types(swh_scheduler_config, tmp_path):
-    db_url = init_db().url()
-
     configfile = tmp_path / 'config.yml'
-    configfile.write_text(yaml.dump({'scheduler': {
-        'cls': 'local',
-        'args': swh_scheduler_config}}))
+    config = {
+        'scheduler': {
+            'cls': 'local',
+            'args': swh_scheduler_config
+        }
+    }
+    configfile.write_text(yaml.dump(config))
     runner = CliRunner()
     result = runner.invoke(cli, [
-        '--db-url', db_url,
         '--config-file', configfile.as_posix(),
         'register-task-types'])
 
     assert result.exit_code == 0, traceback.print_exception(*result.exc_info)
 
-    scheduler = get_scheduler(cls='local', args=swh_scheduler_config)
+    scheduler = get_scheduler(**config['scheduler'])
     all_tasks = [
         'list-bitbucket-full', 'list-bitbucket-incremental',
         'list-cran',
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@
         'list-phabricator-full',
         'list-packagist',
         'list-pypi',
-        ]
+    ]
     for task in all_tasks:
         task_type_desc = scheduler.get_task_type(task)
         assert task_type_desc