diff --git a/docs/db.rst b/docs/db.rst
--- a/docs/db.rst
+++ b/docs/db.rst
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@
   returning an instance of the datastore object. Normally, this datastore
   object uses ``swh.core.db.BaseDb`` to interact with the actual database.
 
-- The datastore object should provide a ``current_version`` attribute returning the
-  database version expected by the code.
+- The datastore object should provide a ``get_current_version()`` method
+  returning the database version expected by the code.
 
 See existing ``swh`` packages like ``swh.storage`` or ``swh.scheduler`` for
 usage examples.
diff --git a/swh/core/cli/db.py b/swh/core/cli/db.py
--- a/swh/core/cli/db.py
+++ b/swh/core/cli/db.py
@@ -198,14 +198,16 @@
             datastore_factory = getattr(import_swhmodule(module), "get_datastore", None)
             if datastore_factory:
                 datastore = datastore_factory(**cfg)
-                if not hasattr(datastore, "current_version"):
+                try:
+                    get_current_version = datastore.get_current_version
+                except AttributeError:
                     logger.warning(
-                        "Datastore %s does not declare the "
-                        "'current_version' attribute",
+                        "Datastore %s does not implement the "
+                        "'get_current_version()' method",
                         datastore,
                     )
                 else:
-                    code_version = datastore.current_version
+                    code_version = get_current_version()
                     logger.info(
                         "Initializing database version to %s from the %s datastore",
                         code_version,
@@ -301,7 +303,7 @@
     datastore_factory = getattr(import_swhmodule(db_module), "get_datastore", None)
     if datastore_factory:
         datastore = datastore_factory(**cfg)
-        code_version = datastore.current_version
+        code_version = datastore.get_current_version()
         click.secho(
             f"current code version: {code_version}",
             fg="green" if code_version == db_version else "red",
@@ -394,7 +396,7 @@
             "You cannot use this command on old-style datastore backend {db_module}"
         )
     datastore = datastore_factory(**cfg)
-    ds_version = datastore.current_version
+    ds_version = datastore.get_current_version()
     if to_version is None:
         to_version = ds_version
     if to_version > ds_version:
diff --git a/swh/core/db/tests/conftest.py b/swh/core/db/tests/conftest.py
--- a/swh/core/db/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/swh/core/db/tests/conftest.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     set to `<mod>` and __file__ pointing to `data/<mod>/__init__.py`.
 
     The Mock object also defines a `get_datastore()` attribute on which the
-    `current_version` attribute is set to 42.
+    `get_current_version()` exists and will return 42.
 
     Typical usage::
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
             dirname = modname.split(".", 1)[1]
 
             def get_datastore(*args, **kw):
-                return mock(current_version=42)
+                return mock(get_current_version=lambda: 42)
 
             return mock(
                 __name__=modname,
diff --git a/swh/core/db/tests/test_cli.py b/swh/core/db/tests/test_cli.py
--- a/swh/core/db/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/swh/core/db/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@
             dirname = modname.split(".", 1)[1]
 
             def get_datastore(cls, **kw):
-                return mocker.MagicMock(current_version=current_version)
+                return mocker.MagicMock(get_current_version=lambda: current_version)
 
             return mocker.MagicMock(
                 __name__=modname,