diff --git a/swh/core/db/db_utils.py b/swh/core/db/db_utils.py
--- a/swh/core/db/db_utils.py
+++ b/swh/core/db/db_utils.py
@@ -548,7 +548,9 @@
     return True, current_db_version, dbflavor
 
 
-def initialize_database_for_module(modname: str, version: int, **kwargs):
+def initialize_database_for_module(
+    modname: str, version: int, flavor: Optional[str] = None, **kwargs
+):
     """Helper function to initialize and populate a database for the given module
 
     This aims at helping the usage of pytest_postgresql for swh.core.db based datastores.
@@ -564,7 +566,7 @@
     """
     conninfo = psycopg2.connect(**kwargs).dsn
     init_admin_extensions(modname, conninfo)
-    populate_database_for_package(modname, conninfo)
+    populate_database_for_package(modname, conninfo, flavor)
     try:
         swh_set_db_version(conninfo, version)
     except psycopg2.errors.UniqueViolation:
diff --git a/swh/core/db/tests/data/cli/sql/15-flavor.sql b/swh/core/db/tests/data/cli/sql/15-flavor.sql
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swh/core/db/tests/data/cli/sql/15-flavor.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+-- database flavor
+create type database_flavor as enum (
+  'default',
+  'flavorA',
+  'flavorB'
+);
+comment on type database_flavor is 'Flavor of the current database';
+
+create table dbflavor (
+  flavor      database_flavor,
+  single_row  char(1) primary key default 'x',
+  check       (single_row = 'x')
+);
+comment on table dbflavor is 'Database flavor storage';
+comment on column dbflavor.flavor is 'Database flavor currently deployed';
+comment on column dbflavor.single_row is 'Bogus column to force the table to have a single row';
+
+create or replace function swh_get_dbflavor() returns database_flavor language sql stable as $$
+  select coalesce((select flavor from dbflavor), 'default');
+$$;
+
+comment on function swh_get_dbflavor is 'Get the flavor of the database currently deployed';
diff --git a/swh/core/db/tests/data/cli_new/sql/15-flavor.sql b/swh/core/db/tests/data/cli_new/sql/15-flavor.sql
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swh/core/db/tests/data/cli_new/sql/15-flavor.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+-- database flavor
+create type database_flavor as enum (
+  'default',
+  'flavorA',
+  'flavorB'
+);
+comment on type database_flavor is 'Flavor of the current database';
+
+create table dbflavor (
+  flavor      database_flavor,
+  single_row  char(1) primary key default 'x',
+  check       (single_row = 'x')
+);
+comment on table dbflavor is 'Database flavor storage';
+comment on column dbflavor.flavor is 'Database flavor currently deployed';
+comment on column dbflavor.single_row is 'Bogus column to force the table to have a single row';
+
+create or replace function swh_get_dbflavor() returns database_flavor language sql stable as $$
+  select coalesce((select flavor from dbflavor), 'default');
+$$;
+
+comment on function swh_get_dbflavor is 'Get the flavor of the database currently deployed';
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
@@ -356,4 +356,6 @@
         assert actual_db_version == expected_version
 
     assert result.exit_code == 0, f"Unexpected output: {result.output}"
-    assert f"initialized at version {expected_version}" in result.output
+    assert (
+        f"initialized (flavor default) at version {expected_version}" in result.output
+    )
diff --git a/swh/core/db/tests/test_db_utils.py b/swh/core/db/tests/test_db_utils.py
--- a/swh/core/db/tests/test_db_utils.py
+++ b/swh/core/db/tests/test_db_utils.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
     assert files
     assert [f.name for f in files] == [
         "0-superuser-init.sql",
+        "15-flavor.sql",
         "30-schema.sql",
         "40-funcs.sql",
         "50-data.sql",
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@
 
     assert dbmodule == module
     assert dbversion == 10
-    assert dbflavor is None
+    assert dbflavor == "default"
     # check also the swh_db_versions() function
     versions = swh_db_versions(conninfo)
     assert len(versions) == 1
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@
     dbmodule, dbversion, dbflavor = get_database_info(conninfo)
     assert dbmodule == module
     assert dbversion == 14
-    assert dbflavor is None
+    assert dbflavor == "default"
 
     versions = swh_db_versions(conninfo)
     assert len(versions) == 5
@@ -183,3 +184,25 @@
     # an upgrade should fail due to missing stored version
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         swh_db_upgrade(conninfo, module)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("module", ["test.cli", "test.cli_new"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("flavor", [None, "default", "flavorA", "flavorB"])
+def test_db_utils_flavor(cli_runner, postgresql, mock_import_swhmodule, module, flavor):
+    """Check populate_database_for_package handle db flavor properly"""
+    conninfo = craft_conninfo(postgresql)
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(swhdb, ["init-admin", module, "--dbname", conninfo])
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, f"Unexpected output: {result.output}"
+    cmd = ["init", module, "--dbname", conninfo]
+    if flavor:
+        cmd.extend(["--flavor", flavor])
+    result = cli_runner.invoke(swhdb, cmd)
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, f"Unexpected output: {result.output}"
+
+    # check the swh_db_module() function
+    assert swh_db_module(conninfo) == module
+
+    # the dbversion and dbmodule tables exists and are populated
+    dbmodule, _dbversion, dbflavor = get_database_info(conninfo)
+    assert dbmodule == module
+    assert dbflavor == (flavor or "default")