diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 docs/build/
 docs/uri-scheme.md
 docs/dev-info.md
-*.sqlite3
+*.sqlite3*
 .vscode/
 .directory
 node_modules/
diff --git a/cypress/plugins/index.js b/cypress/plugins/index.js
--- a/cypress/plugins/index.js
+++ b/cypress/plugins/index.js
@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@
 };
 
 function getDatabase() {
-  return new sqlite3.Database('./swh-web-test.sqlite3');
+  const db = new sqlite3.Database('./swh-web-test.sqlite3');
+  // to prevent "database is locked" error when running tests
+  db.run('PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL;');
+  return db;
 }
 
 module.exports = (on, config) => {
diff --git a/swh/web/settings/tests.py b/swh/web/settings/tests.py
--- a/swh/web/settings/tests.py
+++ b/swh/web/settings/tests.py
@@ -129,6 +129,16 @@
     settings.DATABASES["default"].update(
         {"ENGINE": "django.db.backends.sqlite3", "NAME": "swh-web-test.sqlite3"}
     )
+
+    # to prevent "database is locked" error when running cypress tests
+    from django.db.backends.signals import connection_created
+
+    def activate_wal_journal_mode(sender, connection, **kwargs):
+        cursor = connection.cursor()
+        cursor.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL;")
+
+    connection_created.connect(activate_wal_journal_mode)
+
 else:
     # Silent DEBUG output when running unit tests
     LOGGING["handlers"]["console"]["level"] = "INFO"  # type: ignore