diff --git a/swh/storage/backfill.py b/swh/storage/backfill.py
--- a/swh/storage/backfill.py
+++ b/swh/storage/backfill.py
@@ -572,7 +572,10 @@
                 " provided: %s" % (",".join(missing_keys),)
             )
 
-        if "cls" not in config["storage"] or config["storage"]["cls"] != "local":
+        if "cls" not in config["storage"] or config["storage"]["cls"] not in (
+            "local",
+            "postgresql",
+        ):
             raise ValueError(
                 "swh storage backfiller must be configured to use a local"
                 " (PostgreSQL) storage"
diff --git a/swh/storage/migrate_extrinsic_metadata.py b/swh/storage/migrate_extrinsic_metadata.py
--- a/swh/storage/migrate_extrinsic_metadata.py
+++ b/swh/storage/migrate_extrinsic_metadata.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
-# Copyright (C) 2020  The Software Heritage developers
+# Copyright (C) 2020-2021  The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
@@ -1149,7 +1149,7 @@
         steps=[
             {"cls": "retry"},
             {
-                "cls": "local",
+                "cls": "postgresql",
                 "db": storage_dbconn,
                 "objstorage": {"cls": "memory", "args": {}},
             },
diff --git a/swh/storage/pytest_plugin.py b/swh/storage/pytest_plugin.py
--- a/swh/storage/pytest_plugin.py
+++ b/swh/storage/pytest_plugin.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2019-2020  The Software Heritage developers
+# Copyright (C) 2019-2021  The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
     """
     yield {
-        "cls": "local",
+        "cls": "postgresql",
         "db": swh_storage_postgresql.dsn,
         "objstorage": {"cls": "memory"},
         "check_config": {"check_write": True},
diff --git a/swh/storage/tests/test_backfill.py b/swh/storage/tests/test_backfill.py
--- a/swh/storage/tests/test_backfill.py
+++ b/swh/storage/tests/test_backfill.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2019 The Software Heritage developers
+# Copyright (C) 2019-2021 The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
         "prefix": "swh.tmp_journal.new",
         "client_id": "swh.journal.client.test",
     },
-    "storage": {"cls": "local", "db": "service=swh-dev"},
+    "storage": {"cls": "postgresql", "db": "service=swh-dev"},
 }
 
 
diff --git a/swh/storage/tests/test_init.py b/swh/storage/tests/test_init.py
--- a/swh/storage/tests/test_init.py
+++ b/swh/storage/tests/test_init.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2019 The Software Heritage developers
+# Copyright (C) 2019-2021 The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
         ("remote", client.RemoteStorage, {"url": "url"}),
         ("memory", InMemoryStorage, {}),
         (
-            "local",
+            "postgresql",
             DbStorage,
             {"db": "postgresql://db", "objstorage": {"cls": "memory"}},
         ),
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@
 
 # the "remote" and "pipeline" cases are tested in dedicated test functions below
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "cls,real_class,kwargs", [x for x in STORAGES if x.id not in ("remote", "local")]
+    "cls,real_class,kwargs",
+    [x for x in STORAGES if x.id not in ("remote", "local", "postgresql")],
 )
 def test_get_storage_check_config(cls, real_class, kwargs, monkeypatch):
     """Instantiating an existing storage with check_config should be ok
@@ -116,14 +117,15 @@
 
 
 @patch("swh.storage.postgresql.storage.psycopg2.pool")
-def test_get_storage_local_check_config(mock_pool, monkeypatch):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("clazz", ["local", "postgresql"])
+def test_get_storage_local_check_config(mock_pool, monkeypatch, clazz):
     """Instantiating a local storage with check_config should be ok
 
     """
     mock_pool.ThreadedConnectionPool.return_value = None
     check_backend_check_config(
         monkeypatch,
-        {"cls": "local", "db": "postgresql://db", "objstorage": {"cls": "memory"}},
+        {"cls": clazz, "db": "postgresql://db", "objstorage": {"cls": "memory"}},
         backend_storage_cls=DbStorage,
     )
 
diff --git a/swh/storage/tests/test_server.py b/swh/storage/tests/test_server.py
--- a/swh/storage/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/swh/storage/tests/test_server.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2019-2020  The Software Heritage developers
+# Copyright (C) 2019-2021  The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 
 def test_load_and_check_config_local_config_fine(tmpdir):
     """'local' complete configuration is fine"""
-    config = {"storage": {"cls": "local", "db": "db", "objstorage": "something",}}
+    config = {"storage": {"cls": "postgresql", "db": "db", "objstorage": "something",}}
     config_path = prepare_config_file(tmpdir, config)
     cfg = load_and_check_config(config_path)
     assert cfg == config